J'accuse!
by TipsyRaconteur
Summary: In which Kakashi and Sakura make a series of escalating accusations. Kakasaku. / Glaring at him, she said accusingly, "You like me." His eyes widened, and a short, disbelieving laugh escaped his lips. "What, are you twelve?"
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hi folks! If this is your first time here, welcome! This story is my "Happiest Timeline" Kakasaku. It is very silly and fluffy (and smutty), and I hope you like it. It takes place after Naruto has become Hokage, but in my story Sakura didn't stay with Sasuke. Sakura is around 30, which makes Kakashi around 44.

For those who have been here before, it came to my attention that I used the wrong ship tag on AO3, and that gave me an excuse to finally have this story beta'd so I could update the chapters and then use the correct ship tag. Nothing major has been changed, just a few POV errors and the removal of some epithets.

Whether you're new or old, I really hope you enjoy my first KakaSaku story! I like to think that this story takes place in the Happiest Timeline—or the Goofiest Timeline—so be prepared. ^^

* * *

"Aren't you finished yet?"

"You're so annoying," Sakura sighed, not bothering to turn around as the tenor of a familiar voice sounded behind her, like it often did at the end of her shift. Looking at the shelves behind her desk, she scanned the row before sliding the folder she was holding into its appropriate slot.

Finally turning around, she took in the sight of her former sensei and current friend, smiling despite her harsh words. After so many years of wearing the Hokage uniform, Kakashi had happily returned to wearing more informal shinobi garb: loose black pants and a black long-sleeved shirt, complete with fingerless gloves and bandages around his right thigh. His hitae-ate resided in its usual place, keeping his hair out of his slate-colored eyes, and his mask covered the lower half of his face. Like always.

"Is that what you're wearing?" she asked critically, and he squirmed as she eyed him.

"This is what I always wear."

" _Exactly_. We're celebrating the anniversary of the end of a war, Kakashi. That merits at least a little bit of effort."

"You don't think I look good in it?" he asked cheekily.

Sakura laughed and let her gaze linger as she gave him a once-over. Realizing what she was doing, she snapped her eyes back up to his face and changed the subject. "I don't even know why you're meeting me here; I still have to go home and get dressed."

Kakashi pointedly looked down at her usual work attire: red tunic, black shorts and a light pink apron. Sure, it wasn't exactly festive, but it wasn't unflattering, either. "Sakura… you _are_ dressed."

Sakura was offended. "I am _not_ going to wear my usual clothes to celebrate. That's just…" she sputtered for a moment, at a loss for words. "No," she finished lamely.

Letting out a long-suffering sigh, Kakashi turned to start out the door, calling over his shoulder, "Well, come on then. You're going to make me late."

Sakura snorted derisively as she followed him out. Even being Hokage hadn't fully cured Kakashi's habitual tardiness; although he had managed to (mostly) be on time while meeting with foreign dignitaries, Sakura had it on good authority—in this case, the authority being the word of Kakashi's former long-suffering assistants—that Kakashi had often disappeared when it came time to do more menial duties. Yamato had once told Sakura that Kakashi had been a huge stickler for punctuality whilst working in ANBU, and Yamato had further insisted that Kakashi still made sure he was on time when it was important. While she found that hard to believe, she had noticed that he would usually show up only ten or fifteen minutes past the end of her shift—though she was careful not to look too closely into the significance of that.

Despite Kakashi's talk of being late, they both walked unhurriedly toward her home, and Sakura reflected on the strange friendship that had developed between them. It seemed as if retiring from Hokage and being relegated to the semi-regular missions of peacetime had left Kakashi somewhat at a loss. At first, he had spent most of his time in random trees around the village, reading his smut or napping like an overly large housecat. When he grew bored with his usual hobbies, he would often show up to pester his friends: accepting one of Gai's ridiculous challenges, sparring with Sasuke when he was in town, stopping in to help Naruto acclimate to his new position, drinking with his usual group of jōnin and, of course, pestering Sakura at the hospital.

Although his visits to the hospital originally began as a more sporadic occurrence, over time it became habitual, and often took the form of him chiding her to take better care of herself. He would show up with food just when she was telling herself that it would be _fine_ to skip lunch, or he would show up at the end of the day, right when she was convincing herself she should stay late and forgo a social life. He said he just enjoyed bothering her, but she couldn't deny the fact that his influence had caused her life to become less stressful, as every time she came close to burning herself out, he was there, waiting to irritate her into taking a break.

It was… annoying.

"What are you thinking about so hard? I think I can smell rubber burning," Kakashi quipped, interrupting her thoughts with a dramatic sniff.

She ignored his joke, not wanting to encourage him. "I was thinking about what a pain in the ass you are," she said, her nose in the air.

"Is that any way to speak to the great and intimidating Rokudaime?"

"If I see anyone great or intimidating, I'll be sure to speak more politely," she quipped, flashing him a deliberately sweet smile. He just huffed at her as they approached her neat little house, pausing to let her unlock and open the door. They both stepped inside, Sakura making a beeline for her bedroom while Kakashi turned in the other direction to sprawl on her couch, pulling out his worn copy of _Icha Icha Violence_.

In her room, Sakura swiftly began going through her closet. She'd already decided what she was wearing after a quick mental inventory earlier, so she had a specific target in mind, which she quickly located. Divesting herself of her usual medic-wear, she changed into the chosen dress and eyed herself critically in the full-length mirror on the wall by her bed. The ruby-colored cheongsam had been a birthday gift from Ino, and it fit her body perfectly. The print was, of course, cherry blossoms in shades of pink with deep sienna branches. It wasn't something that Sakura would have picked for herself—the cherry blossom motif was a little too on the nose for her—but she had to admit that it was flattering. Slipping on a pair of strappy sandals with low heels, she then dipped into her bathroom. Fluffing her pink shoulder-length hair into something that didn't scream "I've spent twelve hours in a hospital!", she quickly applied mascara and lip gloss before studying her reflection one last time, and then walked back into the living room.

Swatting at Kakashi's distracted head from behind the couch, she said, "Come on, we're going to be _late_ ," her voice mocking. Tutting at her, he ducked another swat as he stood, slipping his book back into the pouch on his hip.

Coming around the couch toward the front door, he paused. "You look nice," he said in an even tone, though his eyes flicked to the side, as if he were slightly embarrassed to have said it.

Sakura's lips stretched into a wolfish grin as she took in his obvious discomfort. "You're not going soft, are you, Kakashi?"

Sniffing peevishly, he grumbled, "See if I ever compliment _you_ again," her teasing laughter ringing behind him as they both stepped out. She didn't miss the way that he held the door open for her, and she paused for a moment to study him.

He raised his eyebrows slightly. "What?"

Mint green eyes narrowed slightly as they stared at perplexed grey ones, and then she smiled, tossing her hair over her shoulder as she proceeded toward the street. "Nothing," she said in a singsong voice, making him frown after her in confusion. "Let's go."

Shrugging, he followed her, and they headed for the bar.

* * *

The bar was already packed by the time that they got there. It was a spacious place, though not much else was impressive about it—low lighting, scarred wooden surfaces and cheap drinks made it like any number of bars in Konoha. The only thing that made it different was that it had become the unofficial bar of Konoha's elite shinobi force, and as they represented a constant source of thirsty customers, they were happily welcomed by the portly middle-aged civilian who owned it.

Kakashi let Sakura proceed him into the bar, and her eyes lit up as she spotted Ino and headed toward her. He let his eyes linger on Sakura for a moment before he slouched toward the bar, where many of the elite jōnin whom he called friends were camped out.

Sidling up to a spot between Gai and Genma, Kakashi nodded lazily at the scattered greetings that were thrown his way. Gai, of course, could never be counted upon to greet anyone like a normal person, so Kakashi just gave a long-suffering sigh as the Blue Beast of Konoha threw an arm around his shoulders, tears streaming down his face. It was possible that Gai was already drunk, judging by the slightly unsteady way he waved his free arm.

"MY ETERNAL RIVAL! How fortuitous it is that you have arrived in my moment of need! We veterans must CLING to each other in our moments of virile emotion—"

"How the hell did you let him get drunk already?" Kakashi muttered at Genma, fixing him with the kind of look that was usually reserved for his enemies.

"I swear, he's only had one drink," Genma said, smirking around his trademark senbon. "I think he might just be in love with you," he suggested, not for the first time.

"—and together we shall overcome our tumultuous past and rise together into a glorious future!" Gai boomed as he finished the speech that Kakashi and Genma were ignoring, gesturing broadly to a sunset horizon that only he could see.

"HATAKE. How the hell are ya." A palm roughly shoved into Kakashi's shoulder, and he turned to find Anko leering behind him. "I see you came with your _pretty little girlfriend_."

"Anko. I see that you are your usual dulcet self," Kakashi remarked calmly, signaling the bartender for a round of saké. He didn't intend to _pay_ for said round, but that didn't mean he couldn't order it, right? Besides, he was pretty sure it was village law that a former Hokage didn't have to pay for drinks—at least, it should still be a law, providing Naruto hadn't discovered that particular addition to the last zoning bill Kakashi had signed off on before stepping down.

"Anko, I do believe Kakashi is ignoring your insinuations," Genma said, waggling his eyebrows at the her.

Kakashi snorted softly, fighting the urge to roll his eyes as he poured himself a cup of the saké the bartender had produced. "Aren't we supposed to be remembering glorious war heroes right now?"

"I mean, it's not as if either of you are very subtle," Anko said, clearly glorying in his obvious irritation. "You were eye-fucking her on the way in." Used to people thinking he was a pervert, Kakashi just shrugged.

Anko leaned in, grinning gleefully like she was imparting a secret, " _And_ she's staring at your ass right now."

Kakashi choked a bit on his saké as Genma and Anko laughed, while Gai looked off in the direction of the younger generation of elite jōnin and declared warmly, "Ah, so she is!"

Shooting a murderous glare at Anko before his features slipped once more into a mask of nonchalance, Kakashi fought the nearly overwhelming urge to look at Sakura.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

"Whatcha looking at, Forehead?"

Sakura bit back a curse as she quickly turned her gaze to Ino, who was smiling in a decidedly evil fashion. "I was looking at Gai," Sakura said smoothly, the very picture of innocence. "He was… being Gai."

Ino wasn't buying it. "You were staring at Kakashi."

"No, I wasn't."

"And not just like, oh, let me look at what's over here. You were STARING. At his _ass_ ," Ino finished, and by her giddy tone Sakura could tell that she found the whole situation to be deliciously scandalous.

"It's a nice ass," Tenten remarked dreamily from across the table.

Sakura was beginning to turn red. "You know, this really isn't the way you're supposed to celebrate the—"

"Hey, _we_ aren't the ones staring at Kakashi's ass. Although he definitely qualifies as a war hero, so maybe a little worshipful gratitude toward _all_ of his choice body parts is in order." Ino punctuated her statement with a sizeable drink of saké, nodding firmly in agreement with herself.

"I can tell I'm going to have to drink a lot tonight," Sakura muttered darkly, taking a long sip from her own cup.

"I mean," Ino continued, and Sakura groaned as she realized that her best friend still wasn't finished, "He _clearly_ has a thing for you. If I were you—"

"Please don't finish that sentence," Sakura pleaded.

"—I would have already made a trip to the Village Hidden in the _Sheets_ , if you catch my drift," Ino drawled, looking distinctly proud of her own cleverness.

Sakura's sizeable forehead hit the table with a dull _thud_. "I hate you so much."

Suddenly, Tenten straightened, her eyes drawn to the center of the room. "Shh, I think Naruto's about to make a speech."

Both Sakura and Ino straightened as well, turning toward their Hokage, although Sakura didn't miss Ino's quiet snicker behind her as Naruto began to speak.

* * *

Kakashi was beginning to feel the pleasant warmth that came with consuming just the right amount of alcohol, but he hadn't found a seat at the bar yet, choosing instead to stand. And if he happened to keep facing the bar, _not_ looking at Sakura, it was a coincidence. And if that coincidence resulted in keeping his ass turned toward her, well, that couldn't be blamed on him.

"This should be good," Genma murmured, and Kakashi finally turned around, following Genma's gaze to Naruto, who was holding up a cup of saké in the middle of the room.

"I've got 1000 ryo that says he does nothing but make cheesy jokes," Genma said, to no one in particular.

Kotetsu leaned in from Genma's far side, his cheeks noticeably flushed from drink. "No, he's going to be serious. He'll probably cry."

"He'll start with jokes, then get emotional, then end with another joke," Kakashi said confidently. The three ninja looked at each other, and then all chimed in with various versions of "You're on" as they each pulled out the named amount and slapped it on the bar.

"Friends, ninja, countrymen…" Naruto began, "I hope you all know who your designated buddies are tonight, otherwise I have doubts of you all getting home safely," he grinned, looking out at faces that displayed varying degrees of drunkenness. "Last time we had one of these, I got so drunk I almost puked up the kyuubi." A mixture of distasteful groans and laughter rang out, and Genma stared at Kotetsu and Kakashi while mouthing "what did I say". Kotetsu just scowled—this wasn't looking good for him already.

Since he was now facing out toward the crowd, Kakashi found his eyes wandering over the assembled faces. Although he would have sworn that he was just taking in the crowd in a nonchalant way, when his gaze fell upon Sakura sitting at a table with Ino and Tenten, he found he didn't want to look away.

When she turned and looked at him, he felt a tightening in his stomach. When her lips slowly curled into a smile that made her green eyes sparkle, making his stomach feel like it was doing a flip, inwardly he had to acknowledge that his view of Sakura had changed.

"—and always remember to wrap it up, we can't keep having War Remembrance children, all popping up at the same time…" he heard Naruto blather. Kakashi raised a saucy silver eyebrow in Sakura's direction, and was pleased to see her blush and briefly look away, looking vaguely annoyed—perhaps at the fact that she was blushing. When she turned back and saw that he was still looking, she stuck out her tongue childishly.

"This is going to be the easiest money I've ever made," Genma said from beside him. Kotetsu was already mournfully looking at the cash he'd left on the bar.

Kakashi looked over at Genma with a vague "Mm?", making it obvious that he hadn't been listening. Genma narrowed his eyes at him, glancing over in Sakura's direction and shaking his head. Kakashi's eyes remained impassive as he faced toward Naruto again.

"But we all know why we're really here," Naruto intoned, growing solemn. "We're here to be together to remember the ones that we have lost."

Genma distinctly muttered "Shit" next to him, as his chance to win the bet began to dwindle, and several heads turned to hush him.

Kakashi had already lost focus again. He realized it was happening, and that he really should be able to focus on one tiny little speech because he was a grown _man_ damn it, not some hormone-addled teenager, but he couldn't seem to help himself. Or maybe he just didn't want to. In spite of himself, his eyes found their way back to Sakura. She wasn't smiling anymore, having turned her attention back to Naruto's quickly-becoming-sad speech.

"When we think of the Will of Fire, we don't just think of friendship, and the good times. We think of all of the things we've had to sacrifice to get here. Not just blood, sweat, and tears, but those dearest to us—the ones who made the greatest sacrifice to allow us to live in peace today," Naruto continued, his voice roughening with emotion.

Sakura was leaning her cheek into one hand, a few strands of bubblegum-colored hair falling against her cheek. When she tilted her head and exposed the pale skin of her neck, Kakashi swallowed. As Naruto mentioned those who had passed, she moved one hand to Ino's shoulder, and the other across the table to grasp Tenten's arm. This show of compassion reminded Kakashi of what he should be paying attention to right now, and he made a half-hearted attempt to focus on what the Naruto was saying, although it would be easy to admit that he'd much rather be looking at Sakura than thinking about the people they'd lost.

"These moments, when we come together to remember, are what keep us grounded. They are what remind us that we must never stop appreciating those precious to us, because they may not always be here. Please join me in raising a glass—to those who have left us, and those who are with us today. May we never forget what is important." Kakashi, along with everyone else at the bar, held up a cup and joined in the toast. Before drinking, he flicked his eyes back in Sakura's direction, and caught her staring at him with an intense expression. Neither of them moved for a long moment, and Kakashi suddenly had the absurd impulse to wink at her. Instead, he gave her his usual eye-creasing smile, and the spell was broken. They both emptied their glasses and turned toward their respective friends, just in time for Naruto to shout, "And try to keep the War Remembrance babies to a respectable number!"

Both Kotetsu and Genma growled in disgust, pushing the bet money toward Kakashi. As Kakashi gleefully folded the money and shoved it in one of his pockets, Genma muttered, "It really isn't fair—you're his sensei after all, of course you'd know him best."

Kakashi stiffened almost imperceptibly—though not so much that Genma didn't notice—and he knew he sounded defensive as he replied, "I'm not their sensei anymore."

Genma smirked, having noticed the 'they' part of that sentence. "Who are you referring to, exactly? I was just talking about Naruto."

Caught, Kakashi just grunted and signaled for more saké, doing his best to ignore Genma's chuckle.

* * *

It was somewhere around the second time that she almost fell off her chair that Sakura began to have the sneaking suspicion that she was drunk.

It really wasn't her fault. Ino and Tenten weren't the only ones who needed cheering up after the memories brought on by the Hokage's speech, and so they'd joined the rest of the shinobi who had once competed together during a very eventful chūnin exam and proceeded to encourage each other to drink vast quantities of saké. Currently, they were all acting under the Naruto's "Little Green Man" rule, where every time they went to take a drink, they had to remove an imaginary little green man from their cups. If they forgot, they had to drink twice. Every single one of them thought it was a ridiculous rule, and every single one of them played anyway.

And then there was Kakashi. If he wasn't a reason to drink, Sakura didn't know what was. She had been adamant about not looking too closely at the way their friendship had blossomed over the last year, and thus far had been successful. Sure, she occasionally found herself _noticing_ him more often—noticing how pretty his eyes really were, or how great his ass looked, in particular—but that was just a natural reaction to being around the opposite sex, right? Ninja always had great asses. It was practically a requirement of the trade. But Ino's words had made Sakura think—and it was precisely those thoughts, and her need to avoid them, that made Sakura "accidentally" forget the Little Green Man Rule more times than was advisable.

However, she was starting to regret her decision to drink so much, especially when things were starting to look so… swimmy. "PIG," she said loudly, shoving Ino's shoulder. "I'm _drunk_. I need air. Come outside with me."

Ino giggled as they both slid to their feet, arm-in-arm in a way that _should_ have made them both more stable, but instead seemed to make them both twice as unsteady. Luckily, they weren't far from the entrance, and in no time at all they had stepped out into the cool night air. Stepping to the side of the door, they both leaned against the front of the establishment. "Forehead," Ino sighed.

"What, Pig?"

"Sai is sooo great."

Sakura bit back a groan. She loved her best friend, but Ino had a tendency to get really sappy when she was drunk. "Yeah, yeah, I know. You're in love. You're going to have lots of babies. I get it," she said with a sigh.

Ino leaned into Sakura's face, pouting. "Don't be a bitter woman, Forehead."

"I am _not_ a bitter woman!"

"You're only alone and bitter because you've chosen to be—"

"I AM NOT ALONE AND BITTER!"

"—and it doesn't have to stay that way."

"Not this again. Let's go back to talking about Sai," Sakura huffed.

"I don't know how it took me so long to realize it. It's so obvious. You just need to take Kakashi home and—"

"OH, WOULD YOU LOOK AT WHO IT IS," Sakura practically bellowed over whatever Ino had been about to say as Kakashi stuck his head out the door.

"They're out here," Kakashi called over his shoulder, and then walked out toward them, followed by Sai. "Ladies," Kakashi said, and Sakura was sure he was smirking underneath the mask, "You both seem to be… enjoying the evening."

Ino happily, if sloppily, threw herself into Sai's arms as Sakura narrowed her eyes at Kakashi. "Shut up," she said, trying not to look embarrassed when she slurred her words slightly. "You're probably as drunk as I am."

"But you'll never know, because I can handle my liquor," he said with his patented eye creases, cringing slightly as she slapped his arm.

"Take me home and put me to bed," Ino whispered into Sai's ear—only her whisper was easily heard by everyone around her. Sakura blushed and Kakashi chuckled under his breath.

Sai just smiled serenely. "Looks like it's time for us to go," he said calmly, nodding to them both. "I assume you'll make sure she gets home safely?" he asked Kakashi.

Sakura scowled, not appreciating being talked about like she was a child, but Kakashi just nodded and waved, watching as Sai snaked an arm around Ino's waist and led her off in the direction of the home they shared together.

Sakura stared off after the happy couple for a moment, then sighed and turned back to Kakashi, who was now quietly watching her. "I guess I should go back in and say goodbye to everyone," she said reluctantly, not really relishing having to go back inside.

"Everyone's too drunk now to even remember if you said goodbye," Kakashi replied dismissively. "Come on," he said, turning on his heel and proceeding down the street without waiting to see if she was following.

"Hmph!" Sakura fixed the back of Kakashi's head with an irritated scowl, and then began trotting to catch up to him, pouting as she said, "You make a really shitty gentleman."

But then he laughed—a low, wonderfully masculine laugh that sent a pleasant shiver down her spine—and she forgot what she was pouting about.

* * *

In all honesty, Kakashi _was_ a little drunk. Not so much that he was going to fall on his face or puke in the bushes, but enough so that everything seemed a bit fuzzy. More than enough to allow him to be constantly distracted by the woman who walked beside him.

They walked without saying anything, the companionable silence only broken by Sakura humming some song under her breath. Kakashi couldn't be sure which one—probably something she'd heard at the bar, although it was hard to tell since she seemed to be humming off-key. Listening to her horrible attempt at carrying a tune made a sudden rush of affection rise up in him, which in turn made him feel a thread of panic. If her tone-deaf humming was enough to make him feel that way, he was really in trouble.

"In trouble with what?" Sakura murmured, peering up at him, and Kakashi fought back a curse when he realized he'd been thinking out loud.

"Alcohol," he said quickly, following it with, "Hangover. Tomorrow." Sakura blinked. "I'm going to have one," he added. World class ninja deception.

"Ah," was all Sakura said, and they both faced forward as they turned down the street that led to her house.

* * *

The cool night air was doing Sakura good, but even as she began to feel slightly more sober, her mind was racing. Was Ino right about Kakashi being interested in her? She'd been mostly successful at not inspecting the building rapport between them too closely, but the evidence was starting to pile up and become hard to ignore.

There was the way he had slowly wormed into her life, prodding her to take care of herself and personally checking to make sure that she did. The way he remembered her favorite take-out orders at her favorite restaurants. The way he _paid for it_ without being asked—that was the most glaring evidence of all, considering how notoriously cheap he was. She'd even noticed that he'd begun to open doors for her.

When they reached the walk to her house, she stumbled slightly going up it, and he was quick to grab her arm in a loose grip in order to steady her. Looking up at him, she said somewhat waspishly, "You know, I'm not some dainty little flower. You don't have to do that."

He didn't move his hand, his fingertips warm on the inside of her elbow. "I know," he said quietly, and her breath caught at the intense look in his eyes.

Sakura didn't know what emotions passed over her face in that moment, but inside her head, her mind went from being astonished directly into confidence. Her free hand flew up to poke Kakashi in the chest. Hard. Glaring at him, she said accusingly, "You _like_ me."

His eyes widened, and a short, disbelieving laugh escaped his lips. "What, are you twelve?" he said incredulously, laughing. That warm, rare laugh—the one that Sakura's dazzled mind translated to _man_. He recovered from his astonishment quickly, and she thought he might have been smirking beneath his mask as he cockily said, "Besides, I'm pretty sure that it's you who likes me."

Sakura snorted, tossing her hair, feeling as if she was back on solid ground now that they were teasing each other. "That's ridiculous. And don't think I'm going to let you get away with changing the subject. The subject is _you_ , and how you _like me_ ," she said, and the way she said 'like me', she might as well have been saying 'have a second head that you've been hiding from everyone'.

And then he took off his mask, and all rational thought ceased.

It seemed to happen both quickly and slowly. He slid his hand from her arm, and reached up, and when she realized what he was doing her lips parted in shock. He slid the black material down beneath his chin, but she barely had time to take in his face before it fell into shadow because he was leaning toward her. Dropping his hand, he threaded his fingers through the soft pink strands framing her face until he was cupping the back of her head.

Sakura's breath caught in her throat as Kakashi's hand gently, but insistently, tilted her face up toward him, his eyes heavily lidded as they stared into hers. Slowly, almost painfully slowly, he closed the last bit of distance between them, and their breaths mingling as Sakura felt the heat radiating off his body. His warm, soft lips barely brushed hers, and if Sakura had been in her right mind, she might have been embarrassed by the quiet little whimper that escaped her.

Kakashi pulled back, his eyes on hers, and said, "Maybe."

And then he grinned, and Sakura had just enough brain power left to form one dizzy thought— _h_ _e has dimples_ —before he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Sakura blinked owlishly for a moment, completely stunned, before realizing the teasing bastard wasn't planning on coming back. Furious, she shrieked, " _Kakashi!_ "

She could have sworn that she heard that infuriatingly delicious laugh echoing in the distance.

* * *

A/N: Naruto's "Friends, ninja, countrymen" is a reference to Marc Antony's "Friends, Romans, countrymen" speech in Shakespeare's _Julius Caesar_.


	2. Chapter 2

Kakashi groaned as the morning sun beamed obnoxiously through his window, stabbing into slightly bloodshot grey eyes as he opened them. Rolling away from the offensively shining beams, he sat up and stretched, giving a quiet groan as several of his joints let out distinctive pops. Rubbing one weapon-roughened hand over his bare face, he yawned—and then a grin slowly spread over his lips as the night before came back to him.

Sakura was going to kill him.

Laughing quietly to himself, he stood and made his way to the bathroom clad only in his usual black boxer briefs and turned on the shower. As he waited somewhat groggily for the water to get hot, he considered the fact that he knew that Sakura had today off and would probably still be waking up. That same grin—one that Sakura probably would have described as "stupidly smug"—spread over his face again, and he stepped into the steaming spray with a new sense of purpose. He'd made up his mind to pursue Sakura, and he had to hurry; he had things to do.

After all, Sakura wasn't going to seduce herself.

* * *

Sakura woke and immediately hissed at the splitting pain in her head. It wasn't the worst hangover she'd ever had, but that didn't make her any less miserable. Slithering out of bed and only barely managing to avoid falling on her face in the process, she stumbled toward the kitchen and grabbed a glass, going to the sink to fill it with water. Why the hell had she thought it was a good idea to play along with one of Naruto's stupid drinking games? She probably wouldn't have even been able to find her own house if Kakashi hadn't—

And just then, as the image of Kakashi's bare face leaning toward her flashed into her mind, she fumbled the glass she was holding, spilling water onto the sink and counter as she remembered. Kakashi had kissed her.

Kakashi had kissed her, and then disappeared.

 _I am going to kill him_ , Sakura thought.

However, the silly, girlish part of her brain that she'd never quite managed to get rid of was more than happy to begin excitedly dissecting the kiss. For one thing, did it even count as a kiss? She had barely even felt his lips. His warm, soft lips. The thought made heat come to her cheeks as she simultaneously felt excited and annoyed, because she sure as hell wasn't going to forget the way he'd bolted afterward. But his face, his goddamn ridiculously handsome face and those _dimples_ … she felt her own face get hotter at the mere thought of it.

"Nope, nope, nope," the she blearily grumbled as she shook her head, slightly embarrassed to be talking to herself. She wasn't going to start thinking like that; she was mad at him, damn it, and he and his ridiculously good looks could just go kiss themselves for all she cared. _Damn straight_. Refilling her glass with water, she raised it to her lips, only to scowl when she heard a knock at the door.

"NOPE!" she yelled, stubbornly setting her jaw as she moved to the kitchen doorway and glared at the front door. There was only one person that could be, and there was no way she was going to let him in. Turning her back resolutely, she went to retrieve her tea kettle from the stove, only to hear the distinct sound of her door unlocking and opening.

Whirling around, she moved back to the kitchen doorway and stared as Kakashi sauntered in. He didn't even have the decency to look guilty. "How the hell did you get in?" she demanded, momentarily considering throwing the kettle at him.

Lazily lifting a silver brow, Kakashi pointed to himself. "Ninja," he said slowly, as if explaining a difficult concept to a very small child.

Sakura growled at him, and he smiled. "You know, when you growl like that while your hair is all messy, you look like an angry cat," he said pleasantly, and this time he did have to dodge the empty kettle, letting it zoom past him and out the still-open door. Blinking, he gave her an incredulous look.

Sniffing haughtily, Sakura folded her arms over her chest, resisting the urge to try and smooth her hair. "I didn't like that kettle anyway."

His eyes creased above his mask as he continued, acting as if he had kettles thrown at him every morning—which, knowing his propensity for annoying people, was not outside of the realm of possibility. "I brought you breakfast. Good for a hangover," he stated cheerfully, lifting a bag that Sakura recognized as being from a restaurant whose miso soup was to die for. An opinion that Kakashi knew that she held.

She fixed him with a pointed stare. "You're just trying to butter me up," she sulked, ignoring the fact that she really, really wanted some miso soup now.

"Yes, I am," he said, still smiling. When she responded only by huffing, still standing with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face, he confidently walked into the kitchen and put the bag on the counter beside her. Placing a hand on either of her shoulders and ignoring her thunderous expression, he suggested, "Why don't you go take a shower. I'll… retrieve your kettle and tea will be ready by the time you're done."

Her scowl was slowly fading into more of a pout. "Why should I do that?"

Putting his right hand on the top of her head, he leaned in slightly, still beaming at her. "Because it will make you feel better." Ruffling her hair even further, he added, "And afterward I'm going to kiss you. A lot."

The stormy look dropped completely from Sakura's face only to be replaced by a stupefied expression as she struggled to put together a sentence. "Are you kidding me—did you really just—I can't _believe_ you have the gall to think you can just—"

"Yes, yes," he interrupted, hands back on her shoulders as he spun her around, practically frog-marching her toward her bathroom. "A hangover is no reason to go neglecting good hygiene, and you're going to want to be at your best when you receive the most amazing kiss you've ever had in your life," he said in a breezy manner.

"I—You—Who said I want to kiss you?" she snarled, although her anger sounded slightly hollow, even to her own ears.

"Oh, you want to kiss me," Kakashi said knowingly, giving her a small shove into the bathroom before closing the door behind her. Turning around, he made his way to retrieve the kettle, grinning to himself as he heard Sakura's inarticulate cry of frustration through the bathroom door.

* * *

What the hell was even happening? Sakura stared at the bathroom mirror, seeing the disbelief written all over her face. And her hair _was_ sticking up everywhere. Damn it.

Before she knew it, she was starting the shower up and getting ready to comply with Kakashi's not-so-subtle suggestion. Pausing, she scowled. _Wait. Why am I going along with this? This is crazy, right? Who the hell tells someone to go shower so they can kiss them? "A lot"!_ The whole situation was making Sakura's poor, hungover head spin.

Fuming over Kakashi's sheer and unadulterated arrogance, Sakura reached into her medicine cabinet for a couple of aspirin, swallowing them with water from the sink before she slipped out of her pajamas and into the warm water of the shower.

She really didn't know why she was showering. If anything, she should have been making herself _more_ dirty to spite him. _Getting dirty_ with _him sounds like an even better idea_ , her inner self leered, and Sakura scowled again even as a rush of heat crept through her torso. She wouldn't even be having this much trouble with the situation if Kakashi wasn't so damned _sexy_. And irritating. She didn't know if she wanted to slap him or kiss him. _Probably both_. Sakura groaned loudly in confused frustration.

"My, my, Sakura, what _are_ you doing in there?" Kakashi called through the door in a suggestive voice, and Sakura gritted her teeth.

"I will slap your face off of your face!" Sakura hollered.

She heard a laugh that clearly implied that he wasn't at all cowed by her threat, but he seemed to decide silence was the best answer, as no response came.

Sakura sighed as she proceeded to shampoo her hair, wanting to get her bathing done quickly, because the truth was that she _did_ like it when he teased her. Desire to slap him notwithstanding, she wanted nothing more than to kiss him and find out if it was as good as he claimed it would be. They'd been dancing around this spark between them ever since he had retired from being Hokage, and now that they'd both accused each other of having feelings, she was anxious to see just how deep they went.

As she rinsed the shampoo from her hair and started in with conditioner, she considered her situation. It had been several years now since she'd been in a relationship with anyone—the last person was Kiba, and while she felt great affection for him, they had mutually realized that actual love just wasn't in the cards for them and had moved on with a minimum of hurt feelings. Before that there had been a brief fling with Kankuro, and before that, of course, there had been her ill-fated relationship with Sasuke. None of them had led to any sort of permanence, and she had worked hard to get past them.

Those relationships had left Sakura somewhat jaded on the subject of romance, though; she had decided to focus on her work as the director of the hospital, and it took up the majority of her time. She'd spent just as many nights sleeping in her office as she had at her house, until Kakashi had cheerfully inserted himself into her life and made her start to take her own well-being more seriously. She had to admit, he was good for her.

And he was right; she did like him. While their friendship was playfully antagonistic, Kakashi also seemed to possess an uncanny ability to know exactly when to stop teasing her and be more serious. The bond that they had developed was different from what she'd had with any other man; he was equal parts challenging and nurturing, and that coupled with the intense looks he gave her sometimes piqued her interest to the point that her reticence to enter into another relationship had been thrown completely out the window. It helped that there was little effort involved; she didn't have to try to want to be near him, and their interactions seemed to flow naturally, effortlessly bringing them closer until she found herself here, stomach filled with butterflies at the thought of kissing him.

Sticking her head back under the water, she hurried to complete the rest of her bathing routine, anger almost entirely forgotten. He might be the singular most irritating presence in her life, but Kakashi was also undoubtedly the most exciting thing in her life, too, and she found herself eager to return to his presence.

* * *

Roughly ten minutes later, Sakura walked back into the kitchen, wearing a pair of black shorts and a red shirt. However, when her eyes fell upon Kakashi standing by the open window, releasing a messenger bird, she paused. He turned to her with a sheepish look.

"You have to go, don't you," she stated rather than asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Naruto and the council need me to come and explain some of the finer points of several ANBU missions that happened under my command," he said, scratching the back of his head and wincing slightly at her expression. She wasn't sure she believed in the coincidental timing of the summons, and it probably showed.

"It shouldn't take more than… a couple of hours?" he finished, sounding unsure.

Sakura sighed in irritation, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I should have known that you were full of shi—"

Her sentence was cut off by Kakashi's sudden proximity. She hadn't even seen him move, but his face was now inches from hers, his mask pulled beneath his chin. A soft gasp of surprise escaped her lips as he dipped his head, nudging her nose slightly with his own, getting her to tilt her head back.

Like the night before, his lips only barely brushed hers before he pulled back, grey eyes staring intently into hers. Whatever he saw there seemed to please him, because his hands shot up to cup her face as he tipped his head to the side and pressed his mouth fully against hers.

The whole world seemed to grind to a halt. The only things that existed where his warm, calloused hands on her face, and his soft lips pressing firmly against hers.

Without conscious thought Sakura closed her eyes, leaning into him. He smelled like spices and musk and _him_ and she reached up to place her hands on his chest and fist them in the material of his shirt. His mouth moved slowly and teasingly against hers, and when she parted her lips he passed the tip of his tongue over her full bottom lip, a low sound of pleasure rumbling in his chest.

Whimpering quietly in response, Sakura released his shirt and slid her hands up into the choppy silver strands at the nape of his neck, pressing her chest against his as she met his tongue with her own. Her body felt like it was on fire, and when his hands dropped to slide down her back to settle at her hips, tugging them into his, she felt a pang of desire singing through her to pool low in her belly. His gloved hands slid under the edges of her shirt, calloused fingertips finding the sensitive skin of her sides and smoothing over it, his thumbs tracing the lines of her hipbones over her shorts. His tongue stroked against hers, tasting her and teasing her until she felt like she would melt.

They parted reluctantly as he drew back, his gaze heated as he looked at her. A crooked smile ghosted over his face as he murmured, "Beautiful."

Blushing, and nowhere near satisfied yet, Sakura leaned up to kiss him again. But he leaned back out of her reach, eyes unapologetically amused at her enthusiasm. "Gotta go!" he said in a lighter voice, and as she realized what he was about to do she tried to grab his shirt again, only to find her hands gripping nothing but the paper bag containing the miso soup he'd brought.

"A _substitution?_ " Sakura nearly shrieked into the empty room.

The growl that left her was somewhat shaky, her breath still quickened by their kiss. She was honestly going to murder that man. After a few moments in which she contemplated exactly _how much_ she wanted to murder him, she finally set the bag on the counter and opened it. At least he'd left her breakfast. Pausing, she let her hand drift up to touch her mouth, still feeling the heat coursing through her body. He hadn't been exaggerating: it was one hell of a kiss. She wanted more.

As she lingered over that thought, another messenger bird landed in the window, and she groaned, knowing it most likely meant that she was being called into the hospital. Looking mournfully at the miso soup she wouldn't have time to eat, she took the message from the bird and scanned it briefly. She was right; there was an injured shinobi team who required her healing skills. She strode quickly to her room to put on her apron and sandals.

So much for her day off; although, it would serve Kakashi right when he returned and she wasn't there.

When she walked quickly back through the kitchen on her way out of the house, she smiled briefly as she glanced into the kitchen. He had brought the kettle back inside. _That infuriating man._ Grabbing her medic bag, she ducked out the front door and locked it before leaping off in the direction of the hospital.

* * *

Kakashi was thoroughly and completely over this shit.

Unlike Naruto, he had never wanted to be Hokage, and had only accepted the position out of a sense of duty to his beloved village. Retirement had been a welcome change. That meant that being called in to dither over past missions was not his idea of good day, especially when he could be spending his time driving Sakura crazy.

He was relieved when the council decided that they had heard enough and called a close to the meeting. Standing, Kakashi caught Naruto's nod and followed him back to the Hokage's office, stretching a back sore from hours spent sitting in an uncomfortable chair.

"I really do appreciate you taking the time to do this," Naruto chattered over his shoulder as they walked into his office, nodding to Kakashi to close the door. "I'm sure you have things you'd rather be doing." Pausing, Naruto glanced at him and casually continued, "A team came in this morning with two badly injured members. Sakura should be working on them at the hospital." Turning and leaning against his desk, Naruto gave him look that was probably supposed to be innocent, although Kakashi wasn't buying it.

The former Hokage narrowed his eyes at the current Hokage, and there was a brief silence before Kakashi answered with a noncommittal "Mm".

Naruto smirked, his blue eyes twinkling brightly, before he turned and grabbed a vaguely familiar scroll from the desk, changing the subject again. "I found that little addition to the last zoning bill you signed," he said, waving the large scroll at the older jōnin. "You know you can't make it illegal to charge you for drinks, right?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Kakashi answered airily, avoiding Naruto's gaze, "although I'm disappointed that you would have so little faith in the lawmaking entities of Konoha. If the elders drafted it as a law then I'm sure it's perfectly legal," he finished, rubbing the back of his neck and backing slowly toward one of the open windows.

"Kakashi," Naruto said in a droll tone, "This amendment is _clearly_ written in your handwriting. There's even a little henohenomoheji."

Kakashi paused at the window as he stared in the direction of the scroll that Naruto brandished toward him, wondering if he'd really been so stupid as to leave such an obvious calling card. Coughing loudly, he slid one foot onto the windowsill and shifted his weight onto it. " _Anyway_ , I really should be going. You see, I saved a litter of kittens from drowning earlier, and I absolutely must go knit them some tiny sweaters to keep them warm…"

Naruto snorted, calling out, "Tell Sakura I said hello," and Kakashi vanished out the window before Naruto could say anything more.

* * *

Sakura fought the urge to sigh as she walked down the hall and away from the operating theater. She had managed to save the wounded shinobi who had been brought in, but both had been badly burned to the point that one round of healing just wasn't going to cut it. She'd done what she could and left them both in the care of a less experienced medic, so that she could recuperate some of her chakra before working on them again. The half-strength soldier pills she kept in her office should do the trick. Knowing that meant she was in for a big crash once the pills wore off, she scowled. Was it too much to ask for that she get a day off to nurse her hangover?

 _Please; you want a day off so you can spend it with Kakashi_ , that annoyingly honest inner voice quipped. This time, Sakura did sigh. Between the interruption and Kakashi's disappearing act, she was very frustrated. Maybe once she'd completed the next healing session, she'd be able to leave and go find him. He had to be done with his meeting by now, and he had some obnoxious disappearances to answer for.

Her thoughts were interrupted as a hand clamped around her upper arm and yanked her sideways, into a small supply closet. She registered silver hair and dark eyes before Kakashi's naked mouth was slanted over hers, his warm body pressing her lightly into the shelves behind her back. Her startled yelp was therefore somewhat muffled, and she shoved him back slightly in spite of the fire that he easily stoked within her, glaring at him as they broke apart.

He gave her that infuriating smile. "How's work going?" he asked casually, before leaning his head down to nudge her nose with his. She made a small sound of annoyance that was completely forgotten as he kissed the corner of her mouth softly, letting his lips linger. How did he always smell so good? When he nudged her again, she turned to meet him, her breath quickening as he took her lower lip between his teeth and tugged gently before soothing it with another kiss. Sakura sighed, and then suddenly remembered herself when she heard voices passing outside the door.

"We're in a _closet_ ," she scolded weakly.

"You're very observant," he complimented as he pressed into her again, brushing hot lips against the curve of her neck. A gasp escaped her as she felt him nip the sensitive skin beneath her ear, and she couldn't stop herself from pressing her hips into his. His response was a quiet growl that sent a shiver down her spine.

"We're acting like a couple of teenagers," she breathed as he slid a hand over her hip and down to cup her ass, pulling her harder against him. He drew back, dark eyes heated as they looked into hers.

"If teenagers are the only ones allowed to make out in closets, then I don't want to be thirty-five," he said seriously, leaning in to kiss her again.

She dodged him. "You're forty-four," she said with a smirk.

"You talk too much," he murmured against her cheek, and this time she tilted her head to give him better access to her neck. He took full advantage, fastening his lips to the juncture between her neck and shoulder, laving it with his tongue before he nipped her again. The hand not currently occupied with her ass slid up over her ribs and her right breast, and when his thumb rubbed over her cloth-covered nipple he was rewarded with a soft moan.

"Kakashi, we can't— I'm working—"

"When will you be done?" he murmured, his voice low and rough and delicious to her ears as his mouth whispered over hers on his way to kissing the other side of her neck.

"Give me two hours," she said, her breath leaving her in soft huffs as his thumb continued its lazily enticing movement over her stiff nipple.

His other hand slowly slid around the front of her hip and then lower, under her apron. Sakura arched into him as his hand slid over her ass and then down to trail his fingers over the back of her thigh. Humming softly, he pulled her earlobe between his teeth and sucked on it momentarily before whispering, "See you later."

As her desire-muddled brain registered what he had said, her eyes snapped open. "Oh no you— _damn it_!" she snarled as he flashed her a smirk before disappearing again. Her previous fury at the impossibly irritating man returned. That was the _third_ time he'd kissed her and then disappeared.

It was going to be the _last_ time, if she had anything to say about it.

Panting slightly, she glared, her mind racing as her overheated body struggled to calm down. Her lips quirked upward as she began to concoct a plan. Straightening her uniform, she stepped out of the supply closet and stalked off, muttering deviously to herself and ignoring the nervous looks she received from various hospital staff.

* * *

A few short hours later, Kakashi slowly stood from the branch he'd been reading on, stretching and sliding _Icha Icha Tactics_ back into its usual pouch. He'd been having a great time reading and imagining a certain green-eyed woman in place of the heroine. Unlike Sakura, he had no problem with the extensive teasing they'd been engaging in; he was a patient man, and what was becoming torturous to her just heightened the experience for him.

It was also possible he was a bit of a sadist.

Leaping from what he thought of as his napping tree, he quickly crossed the park it resided in and took to the rooftops. In minutes he was approaching the hospital and darting up toward the window of her office. Perching on the ledge, he smiled when he spied her curled up on her office's couch and apparently asleep. Her desk was littered with a few energy bar wrappers—at least she had eaten something—and an open tin of soldier pills. He frowned at that; it had probably been necessary to replenish her chakra so she could heal her patients, but he knew she would pay for it.

Silently sliding the window open, he crept through and stepped onto the floor with the kind of grace only a ninja could muster…

…and immediately cursed as a seal flared to life on the floor, trapping him in place. Sakura's soft chuckle reached his ears, and he shook his head. He should have known; there was no way she'd really be sleeping that soon after taking a soldier pill.

Sakura sat up and stretched dramatically, taking her time as she stood and faced her hostage. Smiling sweetly at Kakashi, she purred, "Well, look at what we have here," and stepped toward him, pausing just out of his reach.

"How the hell did you set this up?" he asked, and there was grudging admiration and amusement in his voice.

"Oh, I just called in a little favor from Interrogation," she said, inspecting her fingernails casually.

"Ino," Kakashi mumbled under his breath. "Well," he said, his eyes flicking down to her mouth before looking up again, "What are you going to do with me now that you have me?"

Her saccharine smile vanished, and she gave him a flat stare. "I'm planning on leaving you there until you've learned your lesson." She waited a beat before continuing. "So, you know, probably forever."

"And what exactly is the lesson I'm supposed to be learning?"

Sakura planted her feet, pointing at him. "To stop teasing me!"

"You like it." That heat was back in his eyes as he stared at her.

Scowling, she sputtered a bit as she continued, "Stop teasing me _and_ running away! It's bad for my health!"

Now he laughed, and as usual, the sound did funny things to her insides. "How, exactly, is it bad for your health?"

"I… I could get dehydrated," Sakura pouted.

Kakashi's eyes widened comically as he processed just exactly _how_ she could get dehydrated, and then he tore his mask off, grinning lasciviously. "Sakura…" he said, his voice lower than before, eyes sparkling with mirth.

"Don't you DARE laugh at me! I'm sick of you getting me all… riled up… and then leaving!" Her face turned increasing shades of red as his grin got wider.

"Sakura…" he crooned in a voice that he intended to be soothing, but still contained way too much laughter to be believable. "Release the seal."

"Why would I do that?" she said, scowling, staring at him and wordlessly _daring_ him to say something stupid.

"Because you want me," he said, consciously mimicking her accusatory tone from the night before. When she merely gasped in indignation, his mouth stretched back into that rakish grin. "You _really_ want me," he emphasized, calmly catching her right hand as it aimed a slap upside his head, and then catching her left hand when it followed suit.

"Well… you started it!" she spat, matching his accusing tone.

His voice softened. "Sakura."

"And I hate you."

"Sakura…" he tugged at her wrists, tugging them up to guide her arms around his neck.

"And you're so _mean_ because you keep _teasing_ me…" her voice had a quiet whine to it now as she leaned into him, pressing her body flush to his and nestling her face into his neck. "…And I really hate you," she insisted softly, her mouth hot against his skin.

"You already said that." His voice was deep and smooth as silk now as he pressed his noise into her hair, breathing her in. "Release the seal."

"You're going to disappear," she said sulkily.

"I'm going to take you with me." She tipped her head back and looked up at him with obvious doubt. "I promise," he said without a trace of his previous grin. "Release the seal," he said again, brushing his lips against her cheek, her jaw, her neck.

Rather than pulling back, she leaned up and into him to form the signs behind his head, and he felt his feet shift slightly as the seal faded. He hummed quietly in approval, and with his arms around her he formed several signs of his own behind her back. They both disappeared with a soft pop.

Sakura stumbled slightly against him as they both reappeared inside his apartment. He didn't let her recover, pushing her back against the wall as his mouth pressed against hers. The first things to hit the floor were his gloves, followed by his shuriken holster. Whimpering against his lips, she tangled her fingers into his messy hair, pausing only to remove his hitae-ate before she tugged insistently at the silver strands. Two pairs of shinobi sandals were distractedly kicked off and left scattered on the floor.

Although Sakura had always struck him as a fairly modest person, that flew out the window now as her desire seemed to make her impatient. Kakashi growled into her mouth as she pulled his hair, his tongue dancing against her own as he dropped his hands to grab her thighs, pulling her legs up and around him. When he was sure that she wouldn't fall he turned away from the wall and carried her into his bedroom, lowering her onto the bed and himself on top of her.

Breaking the kiss, he closed his fingers around the zipper on the front of her shirt, sliding it down and letting his hot mouth travel in its wake. Sakura's hands dropped to his shoulders and pulled at his shirt as he moved down her torso, and he obliged by raising his arms and letting her pull it off along with his undershirt and attached mask. In turn, he lifted her shoulders far enough off the bed so that he could slide her shirt down her arms, reaching behind her to unfasten the brief bindings she wore on her modest chest. Now was not the time for a slow striptease.

He had teased her enough.

He continued downward, fingers curling in the waistband of her shorts and panties, rolling them down over her hips and thighs before removing them completely. Propped up on his arms, he drank her in, grey eyes heated as he studied every curve, the beautiful expanse of pale skin. She arched her back in need, murmuring his name, and he needed no further encouragement, dropping his head to lightly drag his teeth over the bottom swell of one breast before taking her nipple into his mouth. She moaned, her hands in his hair again as his tongue slicked over her sensitive flesh. His hands moved up her thighs, easily parting them so his fingers could brush against her pink curls. He found that she was already wet, a fact that made him growl and nip at the taut pink bud in his mouth, and she let out a cry as he slid a finger into her.

"Sakura," he breathed, moving his mouth to her other nipple and nipping at it, too. "Tell me what you want." As a second finger slid through her folds beside the first, he began to stroke them in and out, curling the tips of his fingers toward her navel, stroking that sweet spot deep within her. She moaned again, saying nothing, some slight modesty seeming to return to her, a pink tint coming to her cheeks.

Dragging open-mouthed kisses up her chest and over her collarbone, Kakashi bit down lightly on her neck, clearly enjoying the gasp it produced. He felt her inner muscles flutter around his fingers, and reached with his thumb to start pressing small circles over her clit. She whimpered and he pulled back to study the expression on her face, his gaze almost predatory as he looked into her cloudy, half-lidded eyes. "Tell me," he said, half commanding and half pleading as his hand sped up.

"I want you—" her halting words were cut off by a moan as a jolt of pleasure went through her, and she trembled beneath his touch. "I want you inside me," she whispered, panting as his lust-darkened eyes watched her. He wanted to bury himself in her, lose himself in her, but not quite yet.

Dipping his head down, he latched his lips onto the sensitive spot beneath her ear, sucking hard and knowing he would leave a mark. "Come for me first," he murmured sweetly against the shell of her ear, knowing she was close as he felt her pulse around his fingers and get even wetter. Moving his thumb quickly against her clit, he felt her arch against him as he brought her to her peak, and she let out a sharp cry as her muscles seized around him, fiery waves of pleasure crashing through her body. Her hands reached out to grasp him, to grasp anything within reach, and her fingers wound up digging into his shoulders as the orgasm pulsed through her. The sound of her, the sight of her, the smell of her all combined to make Kakashi almost painfully hard, and he groaned as he slid his fingers away from her. Quickly divesting himself of his pants and underwear, he slid back between her legs and pressed his lips to her panting mouth before nipping at her jaw.

Day-long foreplay notwithstanding, this was going a little quicker than Kakashi had planned. He wanted to take his time with her, make love to her—but the heat that had slowly built between them in the previous months had risen to such a fever pitch that taking things slow was no longer an option.

When the hot, blunt head of his cock brushed against her wet folds she moaned, and he somehow managed to pull himself back. "Sakura," he rumbled, his voice rough with barely-repressed lust, "Are you sure you want—" He was cut off as she fisted her hand in his hair, pulling him into a fierce kiss as she rolled her hips into his. Groaning into her open mouth, he let himself go and pressed into her heat and wetness, his breath hissing out of him in a soft "fuck" at the exquisite feel of her around him.

"Kakashi," Sakura breathed, reveling in the stretching sensation as he filled her, gasping as he pulled his hips back and then thrust into her again.

"You feel amazing," he ground out in response, his voice rough in his throat as he began pumping into her in earnest. He had waited so long for this, the anticipation growing until just the thought of her was enough to make him hard, and he was done with holding back. Calloused hands sliding down over her torso to grip her waist, he snapped his hips into hers, and the soft cries that issued from her lips drove him on. When he leaned back enough to snake a hand between them and stroke her clit with his thumb, her cries got louder as she threw her head back, eyes closing as she lost herself in the pleasure that he gave to her.

They crashed repeatedly into each other, her hips rolling up to meet his with every stroke, her hands fisting in the sheets beside her head. Both of their bodies were now slick with a fine sheen of sweat, and the scent of their love-making filled the room along with her moans and his own rough exhalations.

His pace roughened as he watched her writhe beneath him, his breath coming from him in short pants. She was so beautiful, so untamed like this, and he felt something clench in his chest as she opened her eyes, moaning his name as her muscles tightened and she came around him. The feeling of her orgasm ripped a deep moan from his throat. Dropping his head as he gave a few more ragged thrusts, he groaned into her shoulder as his own orgasm exploded through his body, and he emptied himself into her heated grip.

Panting, Kakashi pressed his lips against her shoulder, her neck, her temple. Still trembling in the aftershocks of her orgasm, Sakura shakily lifted a hand to his face and kissed him, once, sweetly, as he slowly slid out of her and lay at her side.

There was a moment of shared silence broken only by their quickened breathing, and then Sakura spoke, her voice heavy with fatigue and amusement.

"If you disappear right now, I swear that there will be no place you can hide from me."

Kakashi lay on his side and looked at her. A warmth filled him as him as he watched her smile at him, an answering warmth in her eyes. He said, "I have been explicitly told that such actions are unacceptable—even dangerous." He curled an arm around her hip, tugging her closer to him as he pressed a kiss to her temple, adding slyly, "I wouldn't want you to get _dehydrated_."

Expecting a sharp retort, or maybe even a slap, Kakashi was surprised when Sakura instead faced him fully, raising her hands to cup his face. She didn't say a word, just watched him with those green, green eyes as she touched where his mask usually covered. Letting her fingers splay over his cheeks, she guided her thumbs down his jawline, letting one linger briefly on the beauty mark beneath his lower lip before she moved to trace the shape of his mouth. He didn't break the silence, watching her slow discovery. When she leaned in to give him a quick peck, and he smiled, she traced his dimples too, her answering smile almost childlike in its delight.

She kissed him again, a more lingering kiss this time. When she pulled away, she gave a huge yawn in spite of herself, ending the moment.

"I think your soldier pill is wearing off," he said, half in concern and half in amusement as she ended the yawn with several smacks of her lips.

"Mm," she grunted, shifting closer to him. When he lifted his arm, she happily let him slide it under her neck, snuggling closer to him as he pulled the blanket over them both.

"Stay here," he murmured, not really thinking too much about what he was saying, fairly tired himself.

" _Duh_ ," she said sarcastically, a single weary giggle escaping her.

"You really make a terrible lady," he admonished.

"You like it," she replied, her voice muffled as she nestled into the crook between his arm and torso.

A fond, somewhat silly smile crossed his face as he pulled her closer, breathing in her scent. It wasn't long before he heard her breathing even out as she fell asleep.

Kakashi stayed awake a little while longer, thinking over the day's events, but his grip on her never wavered, and eventually he drifted off to sleep too, that stupid smile still lingering on his lips.

* * *

A/N: For those who enjoy easter eggs, Sakura's line of "I will slap your face off of your face!" is blatantly stolen from It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: HO-LY SHIT, Y'ALL. This chapter took forever. The version you're reading came after three drafts and lots of me wanting to pull my hair out. After re-reading the first two chapters, I felt like I had rushed a little to get where I was going, so to speak, so I decided to try and really take my time in telling the story in this chapter. As a result, the chapter ended up being over twice the size of Chapter 2, so I decided to split it into two. So, you get two chapters for the price of one!

* * *

Sakura didn't remember waking up; instead, she was just suddenly awake, and no amount of fogginess left over from the soldier pill she'd taken could distract her from the fact that she was not, in fact, in her own bed. She was, in fact, naked, and she was, in fact, pressed close to the warm masculine body beside her.

She had also managed to drool on the shoulder that her face was currently pressed against. Raising her head enough to put it on the pillow, she blinked as a string of spit connected her mouth to his shoulder. Blushing, she fumbled at her mouth before swiping gently at the spot she'd left on him, trying to remove evidence of the fact that she was the least sexy kunoichi ever.

Her thoughts began to race manically as she stared at Kakashi's sleeping face. _I am naked and lying next to Kakashi,_ she thought dizzily. _Who is also naked._ Chewing on her bottom lip, she lifted the sheet a little to check. _Yep, naked._ Well, that was distracting. Green eyes lingered over his impressively toned chest and abdomen (and maybe a little lower) for a moment before she tucked the sheet back in place, remembering that she was supposed to be freaking out. Because she had slept with Kakashi. Lazy, perpetually tardy, reads-porn-in-public-and-giggles Kakashi.

And she had really, _really_ liked it.

That was beside the point, though. ( _I beg to differ,_ leered Inner Sakura.) The point was that she hadn't even gotten over the fact that he had kissed her, and here she was less than forty-eight hours later, naked in his bed. Thinking of the night before made her face grow even redder as images of Kakashi above her, thrusting into her, came to mind. And then she remembered something else—he had let her touch his face. Hell, he'd let her explore it, every masculine plane and both boyish dimples. She was pretty sure that was the peak of intimacy for him.

 _So, let's recap. In less than two days you went from having a friend whose face you've never seen, to having seen that friend completely naked and in the midst of an orgasm._ Now _there_ was a memory; Sakura was sure that she could live to be over a hundred, and she would never forget the image of Kakashi's handsome face shining with sweat and contorted with pleasure as he finished inside her. _Damn it, stop thinking about having sex with him. This is panicking time._ But, for some reason, she was having a hard time actually achieving any sense of panic.

Was it really that crazy? They'd been spending so much time together since he stepped down from being Hokage, and as much as she'd tried to tell herself that it was merely because he no longer knew what to do with himself, she knew that it was more than that. In small, creeping increments, their lives had woven together, until the only thing that kept them from being in a relationship was the lack of physical intimacy. The last few months, it was like they'd both been holding their breaths, waiting to see what would happen. And something had finally happened.

A small smile curled her lips as she watched Kakashi mumble to himself in his sleep—it sounded something like "horseshoe pancakes", that couldn't be right—and she laughed softly. She would never have expected that Kakashi would have a vulnerable side, much less that he would let her see it, and she found it disarming; instead of the logical panic she should be feeling right now, she only felt a spreading warmth as she watched him stir.

* * *

Kakashi woke slowly. Sure, he was an elite shinobi, and when he was acting in that capacity he could wake in moments and be ready to fight (or, in more recent years, be ready to act as Hokage). But when he was home—and he _was_ home, his senses immediately reminded him of that—he tended to wake lazily, indulging in his disdain for mornings. However, as he lay on his back, his senses were telling him more than just his location—they were also telling him about the warm, soft body pressed up against his side.

Sakura. And from the pace of her breathing, she was awake. Opening his eyes a little, he was greeted by the sight of her head on the pillow beside him, her own eyes trained steadily on his. She murmured good morning, and he mumbled a "Yo" in response, which made her smile faintly.

His head muzzy with sleep, Kakashi tried to ignore the coiling feeling in his stomach and focus. Sakura was here. He slept with Sakura. And now she was here. He should—what should he do? He could sleep with her again. _Yes._ Wait, no, this was Sakura, she would want romance—he could… make her breakfast? She was looking at him still. She was probably waiting for him to say something. _Say something_ , he thought with a thread of panic.

Opening a mouth dry with sleep, he mumbled, "You want me to fuck you breakfast?"

" _What?_ " Sakura choked out, a laugh bubbling up her throat.

"…What?" Kakashi echoed. Sakura watched his face with growing amusement as he thought about what he'd just said, his face shifting into an expression of horror. That seemed to be the last straw for Sakura, as she burst out laughing.

"Your face—" she stuttered between giggles. Kakashi seemed more awake now, head raised slightly off the pillow, his expression caught somewhere between embarrassment and disgruntlement. As her laughter subsided, she rolled into him, putting her hands on his chest and then resting her chin atop them. Her voice was fond as she said, "You're not very good at this, are you?"

He groaned and let his head rest back on the pillow, rubbing a hand over his face as he sulked, "See if I ever offer to make _you_ breakfast again."

"You didn't. You offered to fuck—"

" _Make_ you breakfast," he said loudly over her. Sakura dissolved back into peals of laughter, burying her face in his chest. After a moment his arms slid down over her shoulders to circle around them, squeezing her closer.

She wasn't wrong, really. He wasn't good at this. Sure, he did just fine with all the naked parts, and the parts leading _up_ to the naked parts, but after that… he was pretty hopeless. He had never really been able to make a relationship work while he was an active ninja and had avoided the political minefield of taking a lover as Hokage. No, Kakashi's romantic history was mostly a string of random and scattered affairs, usually with women from other villages whom he'd never have to see again after it inevitably all went wrong. Of course, the fact that he'd always expected things to go wrong was probably the reason they always did—he'd never really thought of himself as the type of man a woman would want to spend her life with. That had never really bothered him, until lately.

Lately, it _really_ bothered him.

"Wow. You're really thinking hard in there, aren't you?" Sakura asked lightly, tapping her finger against his forehead.

Kakashi caught her hand in his larger one, pulling it down to his chest. He didn't answer her, just hummed and squeezed her hand, staring at her with those heavily-lidded eyes that were a soft dove grey in the early morning light.

"Oh, I get it. You're panicking. I did that earlier," Sakura said, her mouth lifting into a slightly insecure, lopsided smile.

Kakashi's returning smile was less hesitant. "Why were you panicking?"

Sakura leaned back from him and onto her side, holding up her hands to tick off each point on her fingers. "Let's see: what if this doesn't work? What if everyone finds out and won't shut up about it?"

"Sakura, I—" _don't give a shit what they think_ , was what he was going to say, but she interrupted him.

"I'm not finished," she said loftily as she ticked off another finger. "What if you're not really attracted to me, just the _idea_ of me? What if it turns out that we have really bad sex together and the first time was just a fluke? What if we spar and you suddenly realize how much stronger I am than you and your precious fragile masculinity is threatened and then you're not attracted to me anymore? What if—"

"Okay, okay, that's enough to start with," he said ruefully, catching her hand in his own again. One by one, he started curling her fingers back into her palm. "Your strength is _sexy_." One finger. "I will have great sex with you right now if you're worried about that." Two fingers. "I have no idea what 'being attracted to the idea of you' means, but I'm pretty sure I'm attracted to _you_." He folded down the third finger and then paused for a moment, thinking back over her other worries. "Nobody else has to know." Four fingers. He didn't care about what other people thought, but there was an easy answer if she was that concerned. "And… I think this could work." He curled her thumb into her loose fist. _Say it with a little more confidence, jackass_. He added softly, "I know it can work. I want it to work."

She frowned a little when he mentioned everyone else, and for a moment he thought he'd messed up. But then a beamy little smile spread over her face, and she cooed, "You think my strength is sexy?"

He grinned at her. "I like that you can throw me around."

Seeming pleased with his answer, she laced her fingers together with his, still beaming. "So, what are _you_ panicking about?"

"I'm not," he answered quickly, his eyes creasing as she gave annoyed huff.

"Liar."

"I am not a liar."

"Yes, you are, and you're not even lying _well_ ," she insisted.

"I am a _phenomenal_ liar," he said, affronted, ignoring the fact that he'd just contradicted himself. "And I wasn't panicking. I was just a little… concerned."

"About…?" Sakura said, her tone warning him that she was losing patience.

He resisted the urge to evade the question further. Kakashi knew he needed to be honest if this had any chance of working. "About how bad at this I am," he admitted with a sigh. "I'm kind of…" _Damaged. Old. Dorky. Terrified._ "…a dork," he finished, choosing the safest option from his mental list.

Raising her head off his chest, Sakura looked at him with sudden seriousness. "Kakashi," she began, reaching her hand up to cup his face tenderly, "I've known you for a long time. I've seen a lot of sides of you, and if there's one thing I know—" and here she gave him a smile so sweet that it made his chest ache, "—it's that you're the biggest dork I have ever met."

Kakashi scoffed and batted her hand away, even though he was inwardly pleased. Maybe he should have been insulted, but Sakura's remarks had their intended effect—he was reminded that she _did_ know him and had accepted him a long time ago. Still, he couldn't resist arguing at least a little. "Gai thinks I'm cool," he sulked.

"That's empirical evidence that you're not," she said teasingly, leaning into his hand, whose fingers were now carding through her hair. When did he do that? He seemed to have a hard time not touching her. She sat up, and he didn't even attempt to hide the fact that he was ogling her bare breasts as the sheet fell down to her waist. She cleared her throat and continued. "About breakfast…"

"Hm?" He knew he should be listening. He really did. But the sight of her soft curves and perfect, rose-colored nipples were one hell of a distraction, though he wouldn't mind turning his gaze lower and—

"You said you would make breakfast!" Sakura said, slapping her hand down on his chest, trying for angry but looking like maybe she was secretly pleased with the way he was looking at her.

He smiled lazily, a glint in his eye. "I believe I offered to fuck—"

"Kakashi!" she interrupted quickly, "I have work in—" here she paused, looking around the room and scowling as she could find no evidence of a clock. Of course he didn't have a clock. Settling for looking out the window, she hedged a guess: "—an hour, and I still have to go home and change."

He gave a dramatic, long-suffering sigh, to which she rolled her eyes. Reluctantly sliding out of bed, he slid on his underwear and jōnin pants, snagging her red top from the floor and tossing it to her.

She threw it back.

Blinking, he looked at her, lifting one silver brow. "Are we eating breakfast naked?"

"No," she said plainly, looking at him expectantly. When he tossed her the shirt again, she frowned and then threw it back.

At his face.

 _What the hell—_ Kakashi stared, nonplussed, as she looked at him pointedly. Haltingly, he picked up his own shirt, and when she immediately brightened, he huffed, half in annoyance and half in amusement. Holding his arm out, he handed her his shirt, which she immediately pulled over her head.

Giving another one of those world-weary sighs, Kakashi turned away—and then snagged her panties off of the floor with one finger and tucked them into the pocket of his pants.

"Hey!" Sakura protested.

"You take your trophies, I'll take mine," he said insouciantly, quite pleased with himself. She sputtered a bit as he slouched toward the door, only to pause before leaving the room, a thought occurring to him. _Wait. She spent the night here, and I… care about her. I should probably be kissing her good morning instead of stealing her panties._ Fuck, he really was bad at this.

Turning abruptly, he caught her right as she was standing. One hand sliding over her hip, he used his other hand to tip her head back. He felt a smirk tug at one corner of his mouth.

This part he knew how to do.

* * *

Kakashi's lips barely brushed hers before he kissed her fully, and Sakura felt herself melt. She loved when he did that—each time, it was like he was asking her permission before he kissed her senseless. It made her think that he wasn't as confident as he sometimes acted, and she secretly thought it was adorable. Not that she would ever tell him that.

Her thoughts were wiped from her mind as she felt the warm tip of his tongue lightly trace her top lip. When she parted her lips eagerly in response, he practically purred in approval before he slipped his tongue into her mouth to brush against hers. The hand on her hip drew her closer, and right as she found herself hazily—and uncharacteristically—thinking _well maybe I could be late just this once,_ he softly broke the kiss. As the hand not on her hip toyed idly with the hair falling against nape of her neck, she shivered, sliding her hands up the firm planes of his still-naked chest. Taking his shirt had been such a good idea.

"Breakfast," he murmured against her lips, as if trying to remind himself.

She responded with nothing but a whimper and a pout. That wasn't what she had in mind. The way his grip on her tightened and a quiet, answering growl rumbled in his chest, she was guessing that it wasn't what he had in mind, either.

Sighing, he drew back more fully this time, releasing her hip and taking her hand loosely in his, tugging her toward the door. "Breakfast. Work." He paused, considering, and then added, "Date."

* * *

Kakashi watched as Sakura's brow knitted in confusion as she asked, "What?"

"I want to take you on a date," Kakashi said simply. He walked backward as he pulled her into the kitchen—for breakfast, and not because he really wanted to take her on the table. Or the counter. Or the floor. Or hanging from the ceiling in some sort of swing that he could—

"Okay," she said. The smile on her face was somewhat bashful, and Kakashi stopped thinking about sex long enough to muse how only Sakura could manage to look shy while wearing his shirt without anything under it. Still, she had agreed to his idea, and he was pleased with himself for thinking of it. See, he could do romance. He was a goddamn genius, after all.

Smiling back at her, he released her hands so that he could open his refrigerator door. Slim pickings. "I've got some fruit and I know I have oatmeal in the cupboard… um, some eggs… do you want an omelet?" He gave her a sheepish look. He'd had a pretty good idea that they were going to end up in bed together last night—that was the hope, anyway—and he really should have thought ahead and bought more groceries.

"I have time for an omelet," she said pleasantly, before sitting herself at his small table. Kakashi flipped on the stove and began rummaging for his skillet. _See, this is going great. Everything is proceeding naturally. It's almost too easy. I don't know why I was so worried about this._

"So, about last night…" Sakura said leadingly, interrupting his train of thought, and Kakashi had to fight the urge to cringe. That sounded an awful lot like Sakura's "let's have a serious talk about our feelings" voice. Everyone on Team 7 knew it—it was the same voice she used when she would try to make them discuss how they _felt_ about a mission.

"Mm?" Kakashi answered noncommittally, deftly cracking eggs into a bowl.

"How long, exactly, have you been planning that?" She had a deceptively innocent tone to her voice, but he wasn't fooled. He knew how he answered mattered. He should probably be serious.

"Never once thought about it before it happened," he deadpanned over his shoulder, and smirked a little when she scowled at him.

"Kakashi…" she huffed.

"Do you really want to talk about that now? You don't have a lot of time, and besides, that's what dates are for," he pointed out, turning back to the stove to resume cooking. However, as he poured the egg mixture into the now-hot skillet, it was like he could _feel_ her pouting at him, staring holes into his back.

"You're just buying time because you don't want to answer," she said with a sniff.

 _You're damned right I am_ , Kakashi thought to himself. He sighed, knowing that giving her nothing right now would just make her stew all day, and in a way-too-casual tone, said, "Naruto's inauguration."

Kakashi could hear her shifting behind him, and he imagined she was leaning forward in anticipation. She uttered a barely restrained "Oh?", waiting for him to say more. He let the silence stretch out for a while, focusing on the quickly cooking eggs as he mulled over how to continue. Eventually he began using cooking chopsticks to fold the egg, sliding it onto a plate.

Turning, he put the plate in front of her, trying not to redden at the fact that her eyes stayed glued to his face. It was even harder talking about these things when she insisted on _looking_ at him like that, and he felt so exposed without his mask. He pulled out the chair opposite her and slouched into it, running his fingers through his hair as he looked at her. "Naruto's inauguration is when I first… saw you as a woman, I guess. I didn't decide to do anything about it until recently."

His confession seemed to have done little to satiate Sakura's curiosity, as her eyes were even more lit up than before. However, there was a certain knowing quality in her expression that gave him pause—she wasn't acting that surprised. Kakashi made a note to himself to figure out more about _that_ later.

As Sakura opened her mouth, probably to fire off more questions, he held up a hand. "Eat your omelet," he said, only a little gruffly.

"Only if we really do talk later," Sakura said, shoving a rather large piece of omelet into her mouth.

"We'll talk more later," he agreed with another sigh.

"On our date," she said around a mouth full of egg, green eyes dancing.

"On our date," he agreed, with a slightly exasperated smile.

* * *

Sakura was so ravenous that she felt as if she could unhinge her jaw and swallow her omelet whole like some bizarre pink-haired snake. Thankfully, she managed to eat it normally. When she asked Kakashi why he wasn't eating, he insisted he would eat after she left, and instead he just kept her company as she finished her own breakfast.

"I really should be going if I'm going to have enough time to stop home and change. And shower," she added as an afterthought—she probably still smelled like sex.

"Mm," Kakashi replied, taking her plate from her as she stood. He turned and put it in the sink as Sakura padded back to the bedroom and quickly divested herself of his shirt before changing into yesterday's outfit. After dressing she shook out his shirt briefly before folding it into a neat square. At the sound of his laugh she turned to look at Kakashi, who was now leaning in the doorway, lean arms crossed over his chest.

"What?" Sakura asked, slightly defensive.

"I'm not getting that shirt back, am I?" he asked, clearly amused.

Sakura hugged the shirt to her chest possessively, narrowing her eyes at him. "I'm not wearing panties right now. Do you need a reminder as to why that is?"

He grinned unabashedly, holding up his hands in surrender. She made a small "hmph" sound and breezed past him toward his front door. Pausing at the door, she turned to look at him.

Having slouched into step behind her, Kakashi paused as well. His grin had faded into a crooked smile, and his hair fell over his forehead as he looked down at her. "I'll pick you up at seven?"

"Actually at seven, or Kakashi seven?" she quipped.

"Actually at seven," he said, then hesitated, adding, "Almost certainly."

Scowling at him as he opened the door, she stepped over the threshold and turned to look at him once more. " _At seven._ Don't be late." Remembering what Yamato had said about Kakashi's occasional ability to be on time when something was important, she added, "I'm very important."

Blinking a little at the randomness of her last statement, Kakashi looked as if he was holding back a laugh. Smart man. "Yes, very important," he agreed with a serious face that wasn't quite convincing.

Suddenly feeling a little bit embarrassed, Sakura leaned up and brushed a lingering kiss against his cheek. "I'll see you later, then."

Kakashi caught her wrist before she could leave and tugged her back, pressing his lips to hers in a slightly longer kiss before smirking and releasing her arm. "Later."

* * *

Kakashi closed the door behind him after she left and stood there for a moment before letting out a long, shaky sigh and a slightly breathy "shit".

He muttered "shit" a few more times under his breath as he stalked into the kitchen, and then muttered it a few more times as he paced back and forth before forcibly stopping himself. _Okay. This is ridiculous. I need to calm down. It's going well so far, right? She seemed happy._ He took a deep breath, held it, exhaled. _Now I just have to think of where to take her on a date and everything will be fine._

The last thought summoned a bit of panic back to him. Where the hell did people go on dates? Not just dates, but a _first_ date. And not just a first date, but a first date with a woman whom he'd been steadily growing more enamored with for over a year. A young (relative to him, at least) woman whom he'd known for her entire adult life, and for a good chunk of his. This wasn't just a date—there were _expectations_.

And he would feel a lot better if he had even the slightest clue of what those expectations were.

 _Well, she probably didn't expect you to seduce her into bed before you'd even held her hand_ , he chastised himself. Not that he really regretted anything—possible expectations of romance aside, Kakashi was, underneath the underneath, a passionate man, and if he had to do it all over he would do it the same. Except he would do it six months ago—at _least_.

But he'd already known he was good at sex. It was the dating and feelings part that left him feeling quite unmanned. He didn't even know where to begin.

Should he take her on a picnic? Picnics were romantic, right? _No. Idiot. You're picking her up at seven, who goes on a picnic at night?_ Frowning, he considered. Were picnics only a day thing? That's really kind of stupid, especially if you were a fan of star-gazing, which he was sure was a romantic thing to do. _No,_ he argued with himself, _you can't do a picnic in the dark. Motion denied._

Shoving his hands in his pockets, Kakashi was momentarily surprised to feel that his right pocket wasn't empty, and then he smirked. Pulling Sakura's panties out, he laughed softly to himself, his shoulders relaxing into their usual slouch. This was Sakura he was talking about, and the presence of the slightly-frilly pink panties in his hand was proof that she was willing to be pretty understanding of his more peculiar eccentricities. _In other words, if I manage to pull off even the bare minimum of what is required for a date, she'll probably be pleasantly surprised._

Kakashi frowned. "Bare minimum" was, for some reason, completely unsatisfactory in this instance. Granted, a date wasn't something he _really_ wanted to do—what came after a date was more his style—and generally, "bare minimum" was the perfect amount of effort for something he didn't want to do. But he found that, in this instance, his desire to get this right overrode his desire to avoid what he thought of as messy social situations.

It occurred to him, though not for the first time, that he really cared about Sakura—more than cared about her. He didn't date, after all, so that would imply that what he felt for her was stronger than any feelings he would normally have toward a woman he'd slept with. Frowning thoughtfully, he rubbed the soft cotton of Sakura's underthings between his fingers mindlessly, as if it were a good luck charm.

Sighing, he shook all thoughts of feelings from his head. He'd worry about all of _that_ later. Right now, he needed to focus all of his considerable intellect on figuring out this whole date thing.

 _Dinner. At a nice restaurant._ Mulling that over for a moment, he mentally added, _And I'll wear something… different._ He shuddered at the thought. Maybe not that last part; he really wasn't a get-dressed-up kind of guy. _But Sakura's definitely an appreciates-a-well-dressed-man kind of woman,_ his stupid brain chimed in.

"Shit!" Kakashi growled, shoving the panties back into his pocket. This was going to be more difficult than he'd thought.

* * *

Sakura was running to the hospital, having gone home to quickly shower and change, and she was fifteen minutes late. _That bastard is already a bad influence_ , she thought, trying to be unkind—but a little smile crossed her face at the thought of Kakashi. Apparently, she wasn't going to be able to actually get angry at him. He couldn't be _that_ good in bed, right?

Two thoughts occurred to her simultaneously: _Better fuck him again to make sure_ and _It's probably because you love him._ Letting out a small yelp and momentarily losing her footing on the roof she was leaping over, Sakura screeched to a stop as a result of that second thought. All of the blood that had previously rushed to her cheeks was now quickly draining out of them. What the _hell_ kind of thing was that to think after only sleeping with a guy once?

Shaking her head, Sakura jumped down from the roof and ran the last three hundred yards toward the hospital. Now was the time to go into medic mode; she promised herself that she wouldn't think of Kakashi again until the end of her shift.

Inner Sakura snorted: _Like_ that _is going to happen._

* * *

Kakashi sighed. "So, you see, I really need to reserve one of your private tables for tonight." He gave his very best eye-creasing smile to the unimpressed restaurant host who stood at the podium before him.

"There are no empty tables for the rest of the week," the man replied, flipping idly through his guest book. Kakashi gritted his teeth.

"I would hope that you'd be able to make an exception for a former Hokage," he said smoothly, not feeling even one shred of guilt for attempting to capitalize on his former position. He hadn't given years of his life to serve the village to be turned down for a dinner reservation, for fuck's sake.

"And will you be acting in the capacity of a former Hokage this evening?" the host replied in just as silky of a voice.

For a moment, Kakashi considered lying. However, Sakura was well known in the village, and the second Kakashi showed up to dinner with her, they'd know it wasn't a diplomatic meeting. He sighed. "Isn't there anything you can do?"

The host gave him a look that implied that he thought Kakashi was an idiot. After a moment, Kakashi realized what the man was trying to convey, and held back an even bigger sigh as he pulled out his wallet and withdrew a bill, placing it on the podium. When the other man did nothing but level Kakashi with a flat stare, Kakashi scowled and painfully placed another bill down. And then a third.

"Ah, it seems I was mistaken. We do have a private table at 7:15, like you requested," the host said brightly, scratching something out in his book before scribbling in it. "How lucky for you."

Kakashi scowled, and—muttering something that sounded an awful lot like "'lucky' my ass"—he turned and left the restaurant, successfully fighting the urge to make a rude gesture at the host's friendly farewell.

* * *

"—and he said that he'd never even seen her before, but then _Ami_ caught her sneaking out the back door with him and—"

Sakura tried to pay attention to the gossip that was currently taking the attention of every medic in the employee lounge. It was important for her to know what was going on in her hospital; interpersonal drama was just as likely to cause problems as it was to foster teamwork, and in a hospital, problems could lead to lives lost. But her mind kept wandering, to Kakashi and the night before, and the things he had said this morning. Okay, one thing in particular. One teeny, little thing that kept nagging at her.

What the _hell_ had he meant by "nobody else has to know"?

Sakura turned to the coffee maker, grabbing a mug and pouring herself some of the strong brew. Grabbing a few single-serving creamers and packets of sugar, she set about fixing her drink, dimly aware of the gossiping employees continuing behind her.

"So, what did he say?"

"He said that there was no way he'd do something like that. But I think it's pretty obvious he's using her. All the evidence is there."

 _That's right, all the evidence is there,_ Sakura thought, quite absorbed with her own thoughts. Kakashi had never had a girlfriend (that anyone knew about), he was never seen on dates, he only ever seemed to flirt with women outside of the village. All the puzzle pieces, added together, made the picture of a man who was completely commitment-phobic. Although, considering his life, she was surprised he was able to show affection at all.

"I don't know, I'm pretty sure he really likes her," one of the medics behind her chirped. "Guys are really bad at hiding that sort of thing."

 _Wait. He didn't have any problem showing affection this morning._ The thought encouraged Sakura. _So what if he hasn't had any public relationships before? He was pretty busy being Hokage, and before that was the war._ But then what he'd said about nobody knowing came back to her, and she felt her stomach drop. _No. He doesn't want anyone to know. He probably just wants a… fuck buddy._

Wait. Hold on. What about the fact that he'd been feeling… whatever he was feeling… for over a year? What about how he'd asked her on a date? That meant that he had feelings, right? Real feelings. Sakura sighed—she needed to stop this kind of circular thinking, it was only going to drive her crazy. She should just focus on enjoying whatever was going on between them instead of analyzing it so much. She was just going to stop thinking about it.

 _But… what the hell had he meant by "nobody has to know"?_

Sakura cursed in annoyance at her own brain, earning a few curious glances from some of her coworkers. Looking down, she realized that she had been mechanically stirring her coffee for much longer than was necessary. Quickly, she slammed a lid down onto the cup, nodding vaguely to the other medics as she nearly stomped out of the room.

She paused just outside the door, considering whether she should go to her office next or to the nurse's station to see how things were going. That was how she managed to hear the loud whisper coming from one of the medics still in the room, who obviously thought she was out of earshot. "Did you see that _hickey_ on her neck?"

Sakura's body went completely stiff before she dropped her chin so her hair fell forward, her face on fire in utter mortification. When she heard another employee add, "Isn't she kind of old for that?", Sakura forced herself to begin walking calmly down the hall. _Forget my office or the nurse's station, I need to go find a hole to die in. Right after I heal the mark that that stupid, stupid,_ stupid _idiot left on me_ , she thought with a scowl.

* * *

"I will kill you and everyone you care about." Kakashi's voice was low and menacing, although the smirking man in front of him seemed to be completely unaffected by it.

"I just want to know why," Genma drawled, leaning against the frame of his front door, a little bit of glee in his eyes as he returned his stare. Kakashi had shown up at his door only moments prior with what he knew was an odd request. The kind of request that one would never expect from the former Hokage.

Kakashi wanted to borrow clothes.

The smirk on Genma's face began to widen as Kakashi shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He scowled beneath his mask; he should have known this was a bad idea. He also should have known he would need an excuse ahead of time—what had he been thinking?

"Just give me something," Kakashi growled.

"Well, I can't very well give you something if I don't know what you're dressing for," Genma said with false sweetness.

"Dinner."

"With whom…?"

The part of Kakashi's brain that came up with excuses finally kicked into gear. "A diplomat from Wind Country is in town and demands to be seen by the Hokage… but Naruto is busy." At Genma's quirked brow, he quickly supplied, "He's fighting some sort of proxy war _that you don't need to know about_ —" Kakashi spoke the last part with more force to keep Genma from interrupting, "—and so it's my solemn duty as Rokudaime to make sure that she… ahem, _he_ , is properly wined and dined."

Genma frowned, looking unimpressed with Kakashi's story. "A diplomat."

"Yes."

"So… wouldn't that mean that you need to dress formally? Kimono, and all that? I don't have anything like that," Genma sniffed, moving his senbon from one side of his mouth to the other.

Kakashi gritted his teeth in frustration. "Don't you have… I don't know… a nice sweater?"

Genma blinked, his smirk returning. "You're going to impress a diplomat from Wind Country… wearing a sweater?"

Sensing that Genma was not going to be swayed by his flimsy excuse, Kakashi decided to try a different tactic. It was time for the big guns. "Genma," Kakashi said, his voice dangerously low now. "If you don't help me, I'm going to tell Shizune about that little chūnin from the bar a few weeks ago."

Genma swallowed audibly, his senbon bobbing. "That wasn't my fault. She was all over me. I didn't do anything."

"You _honked_ her breasts."

"I didn't do anything below the waist," Genma amended, recovering his cool and shrugging one shoulder. "What's a light honking between friends?"

Kakashi snorted, folding his arms. "Okay, then I'll just tell Shizune. About your _friend_."

Genma sighed, finally backing away from the doorway to allow Kakashi entrance. "Fine, you asshole. But don't think this is over, because it's not. I'm gonna find out what has you acting like a giddy little girl," he said, although his knowing look suggested that he already had a good idea.

Kakashi cursed inwardly as he brushed past his friend, having caught the look, and snarled over his shoulder, "I don't have to take that from a man who wears a bow on his forehead."

Genma frowned, fingering the ends of his hitae-ate as he followed Kakashi toward his closet, sulking. "It's a _knot_."

* * *

By the time Sakura left work at five, she felt completely emotionally exhausted. While the day had been a relatively light one in terms of her work load, her constant cycling thoughts had refused to give her a moment's peace. Between the long ruminations about Kakashi's intentions and the lingering interludes wherein she remembered the night before, she was all over the place emotionally. And now she had a date. A date with Kakashi, whose intentions remained a bit of a mystery.

None of her thoughts about Kakashi's intentions were enough to distract her from the excitement she felt as she got home and decided to run a bath. Maybe if she got herself to relax a little she'd gain a new perspective on the situation. At the very least, her favorite bath gel would leave her literally smelling like roses.

It turned out that she was right about that different perspective. After she had sunk into the water and soaked for a while, she found her mood lightening. So what if she didn't know what his intentions were? She was a big girl, and so far, she was enjoying herself. Did it really have to be any more complicated than that?

 _Right, because you're so good at casual flings._ Sakura frowned thoughtfully. Okay, so she wasn't good at casual. More importantly, there wasn't anything casual about the way she felt toward Kakashi. She could easily admit that much to herself. And she really didn't relish the thought of putting her heart on the line if she couldn't trust that he felt the same.

 _But you can trust_ him _, though,_ her occasionally helpful inner self reminded her. It was true. There were very few people that she trusted as much as she trusted her former sensei, and no one she trusted more. Sakura smiled a little at the thought. If there was no one that she trusted more, shouldn't that count for something? Shouldn't she give him a little time?

She didn't have to think about it for long—the answer was _yes_. Loathe though she was to leave herself vulnerable, the truth of the situation was that she hadn't been this excited about something for a long time. If leaving herself open to pain meant she had the chance to get what she wanted, then she'd take the chance.

Because Sakura was no coward, and what she wanted was him.


	4. Chapter 4

Kakashi slouched into his usual lazy posture as he walked, shoving his hands in his pockets and fighting the urge to shuffle his feet. He felt so conspicuous. A matte but silky black long-sleeved, button-up shirt fit snugly to his torso (and was left untucked, much to Genma's chagrin), and nicer slacks than anything he owned fell to cover the tops of the shinobi sandals he'd still insisted on wearing, despite Genma's objections.

However, the argument over shoes had distracted Kakashi enough that Genma had been able to ambush him and spray him with cologne, chortling and saying something about how " _diplomats_ really like it", completely ignoring Kakashi's insistence that he _hated_ cologne. Finally, Genma had confiscated his hitae-ate, gloves, and kunai holster, insisting that he would look better without them. Kakashi was glad that his undershirt with attached mask had at least passed muster; it and the sandals were the only comfortingly familiar things he had on, and they had a slight grounding effect.

Now, he was walking unhurriedly to Sakura's house, and if his reading of the sun was correct, he was going to be on time. And he was wearing something nice. He had even left his copy of _Icha Icha Tactics_ at home, _very_ reluctantly. As he turned to go up the walk to Sakura's house, he suddenly paused. _Flowers. I'm supposed to get flowers, right? Shit._ Hand poised to knock on her door, he considered his options. _There's time, right? I could still go get some. I wouldn't be that late. Or does showing up with flowers make me seem over-eager? Can I just use_ these _flowers?_ He eyed the potted flowers that stood by her door with a predatory look, when he was distracted by the sound of the doorknob turning. _Shit. Should have hidden my chakra signature._

"You look like you're going to eat my geraniums," Sakura said with amusement as she leaned in the doorway, smirking at him.

"I forgot the part where I'm supposed to bring flowers to show how much of a gentleman I am. That's a date thing, right?" he said, letting his gaze travel over her. She was wearing a simple white dress with spaghetti straps, the skirt of which brushed the tops of her shapely calves. It hugged her slender torso before flaring out from her waist, and the neckline was just low enough to hint at cleavage. On her feet were strappy sandals with low heels. Kakashi thought she looked… well, edible.

"You don't have to bring flowers," she said easily, smiling as she studied him much as he'd studied her. "I've never seen you in civilian clothes," she said as she lifted a hand to straighten his collar, and then rest on his shoulder as she leaned in closer. "Are you wearing cologne?" she murmured in a slightly lower voice, her nose brushing against his neck as she sniffed. "You smell amazing."

The feeling of her warm breath playing along his skin through his mask sent a flash of heat through him. _Point to Genma_ , Kakashi thought, immediately changing his lifelong opinion of cologne. It was clearly a marvelous invention, and he was absolutely going to buy some.

Clearing his throat, Kakashi looked down into crystalline green eyes, deciding to skip the part where he told her that Genma was the one who'd dressed him. "We have reservations for 7:15. Which we will be perfectly on time for," he added, looking at her pointedly, wanting recognition for his amazing punctuality.

She laughed, closing her door behind her and proceeding past him and down the walk, turning and waiting for him to catch up as she said, "You don't get points for being on time. That's a basic adult skill."

"If you don't reward me when I do something right, you'll never train me properly," Kakashi said, his tone purposefully seductive.

"Are you suggesting that I train you like one of your ninken?" she said in an incredulous voice, blushing a little at his tone.

"I respond well to positive reinforcement," he responded, slowly stalking toward her.

She giggled breathlessly as she backed away from him. "You can't ask for a reward for being on time if you're going to distract me and make us late," she said as he pursued her down the walk to the street.

"You can't keep running away from me; you don't know where we're going," he pointed out, catching her wrist and loosely tugging her back toward him. He felt a little exposed, touching her in public like this, but he was pretty sure no one was around—and he found that he didn't mind the possibility of someone seeing them as much as he would have thought.

She abruptly changed her direction and let him pull her into him. Sliding her hand over his chest, she leaned in to whisper coyly in his ear. " _Maybe_ I'll reward you later."

He felt a somewhat devious smile stretch across his face as her scent wafted up to him. Roses. "Deal." Pulling back, he offered her his arm, and when she took it, he proceeded to walk with her toward the civilian district where the restaurant was.

He was totally _nailing_ this whole date thing.

* * *

Sakura was kind of impressed.

She hadn't really thought about it, but she supposed she had just expected Kakashi to show up in his usual shinobi garb—asking her out on the date was already far enough outside of his normal behavior that she'd figured anything else was pushing it.

But he'd shown up in fancy clothes—okay, okay, they were fancy clothes _for him—_ and he'd been wearing cologne, and he started rambling about flowers, and Sakura had felt her heart skip a beat. He was so clumsy at this that it went full circle and came around to charming again, and she couldn't help but be moved by it. For a normal woman on a normal date with a normal man, it probably wouldn't have been worth notice. But she wasn't a normal woman, and Kakashi would never even approach being a normal man, and so she could appreciate the fact that the ever-aloof Rokudaime had gone so far out of his way to impress her. It didn't hurt that the cologne made him smell like sex on a stick.

True, there was that part of her brain that was whispering, _Are we going to the civilian district because he doesn't want to be seen with me?_ She also was somewhat nonplussed when Kakashi led her to a completely featureless building with heavily tinted windows and a plain wooden door. Sakura cast a doubtful eye at him, and he only smiled with his eyes as he held the door for her, letting her walk inside.

And then she was _really_ impressed.

Sakura didn't know what she'd been expecting, but it wasn't the elegant and cozy little restaurant that stood before her. Perfectly placed candles and lanterns gave the place the effect of being lit by fireflies, the gentle glow shining off of the burnished wood floors. Intimate, cloth-covered tables were spaced evenly throughout the main dining room, but Sakura noticed that the walls seemed to be occupied by a series of sliding doors. While Kakashi stepped up to the host's podium to announce their presence, Sakura snuck forward to take a better look around. People sat talking and eating at every table, enjoying what looked like a delectable array of sushi dishes. When one of the sliding doors opened and a person slid out, Sakura was able to glimpse a private booth nestled behind the door.

When Kakashi appeared behind her, his hand sliding warmly against the small of her back, Sakura looked up at him and whispered, "Where are we?"

"Just a little place I know. Best-kept secret in Konoha." He nudged her to follow the host as he led them to their table. They were shown to one of the sliding doors, and when it was opened, they both went inside and took seats across from each other. When asked for a drink order, Kakashi gave her a consulting glance before ordering saké for both of them. The host nodded, said he would give the order to their server, and then wished them a good meal before exiting and sliding the door closed.

Turning immediately, Sakura rose slightly so she could lean across the table. Pulling down his mask, she laid a kiss on his slightly startled face, leaning back to smile broadly at him. "Maybe you're not so bad at this after all."

"I'm glad you approve," he said, recovering quickly as his features slid into an easy smile.

A little thrill went through her at that; he was handsome enough when he was serious, but he was gorgeous when he smiled. She still wasn't used to it. "How did you find out about this place?"

Kakashi coughed at that. "Ah, well… Gai took me here once. It was supposed to be my prize for winning one of his little contests." He paused before adding, "His idea. I really like it, though. Nice and private, and the food is amazing."

 _Private._ Sakura's smile faltered slightly, though she felt like she hid it well – she was back to that nagging thought that Kakashi didn't want to be seen together. Sitting up straighter, she scolded herself. _Stop trying to ruin everything. You're on a date in a beautiful restaurant, with a beautiful man, so stop overthinking everything._

Taking her own advice, Sakura opened her menu. Kakashi followed suit, and they began idly talking about what they would each have for dinner. She suggested they order the love boat, a full dinner for two that featured most of the chef's most impressive dishes. Kakashi countered, insisting there was no way he was going to eat something called a "love boat". His quick response made Sakura think that he had had this argument before, and she fleetingly wondered what Gai had ordered when he'd been there.

Eventually, though, she wore him down just in time for their server to knock at the door before sliding it open, leaving just enough of a pause for Kakashi to tug his mask into place. Their saké bottle was placed on the table between them, accompanied by two small cups. The server, a sweet girl about ten or so years younger than Sakura, took their order. Sakura gave an amused snort when Kakashi stiffly ordered the love boat, and he fixed her with a glare.

Soon they were alone, and Kakashi had removed his mask again. Sakura watched his long fingers pick up the bottle of saké and pour for them both, while she privately thought about how talented those fingers were. _Well, he_ is _the fastest at forming signs that I've ever seen_ , she mused. When he caught her eyeing his hand, he gave her a roguish smile that suggested that he knew exactly what she was thinking about, and she blushed. Clearing her throat, she decided it was time for a new subject. "So…"

"So," he answered, as they both lifted their cups and clinked them gently together.

"So… you started liking me at Naruto's inauguration, huh?"

* * *

Kakashi winced. He'd just been congratulating himself again on how good he was at dating, and then she had to go and bring that up. _You'd think the clothes, the cologne, and the nice restaurant would be enough—but no, she wants to talk about feelings. I think that officially makes this a relationship._

Although the thought surprisingly didn't result in him leaving a Kakashi-shaped hole in the wall as he fled screaming, he decided that he was still going to be difficult. "You first."

Sakura frowned. "What do you mean, me first?"

"I already gave you something. Now you have to give me something," he said matter-of-factly.

"This isn't a negotiation for another country's state secrets," she sputtered.

Wasn't it? Kakashi considered that; now that he thought about it, dates weren't that different from a meeting between diplomats from neighboring countries. Both trying to present the best and strongest aspects of their countries while discreetly passing over the less-than-savory parts. _So really, when I think about it, that means I wasn't lying to Genma earlier about this being a diplomatic meeting,_ Kakashi thought smugly.

Sakura seemed to take Kakashi's thoughtful silence as a display of stubbornness, and she gave an irritated sigh. "Fine. It was when you were Hokage."

"Have a thing for power and pointy hats, hm?" Kakashi gave her a lazy smile.

She gave him an exasperated look. "It wasn't like that." Pausing, she took a slow sip of her saké. "Do you remember when that representative from Iwa nearly lost her mind because Chouji almost killed her partner?"

Kakashi let out a low chuckle. "Sure. The woman was really uptight, and the man was an asshole who pissed everybody off; calling Chouji fat was his stupidest move in a long line of stupid moves." He went quiet for a moment, remembering. "I forgot that you were there too. Something about nagging me for better hospital funding."

Sakura's eyebrow twitched, but she managed to let the "nagging" comment slide. "The woman. Do you remember… taking care of her?" Sakura said slowly, blushing a little.

"You made it sound like I fucked the woman on the Hokage desk," Kakashi said with amusement. "I just flirted with her a little to manage the situation."

"It was not _a little_." Sakura shifted uncomfortably on her seat. When he only smiled at her, she scowled in return. "I'm pretty sure I heard you tell her that you'd be happy to remove your mask if she needed a place to sit."

 _I forgot about that part,_ he thought, cringing lightly. He usually wasn't that indiscreet, but the woman had been working herself into the kind of tantrum that caused international incidents, and Kakashi hadn't missed the way she'd been looking at him during their meeting. In other words, he had just used the tools available to him, like any good shinobi would. There wasn't much he could do about it now. Kakashi gave Sakura an unapologetic, if somewhat awkward, shrug.

Narrowing her eyes at him, Sakura disapprovingly hummed in response.

"So, what, are you saying you were vicariously seduced?"

"So you were… vicariously seduced?" Kakashi asked with a grin, recovering quickly. "Or were you just jealous?"

"You're enjoying this way too much."

"You're just mad because I haven't offered you a seat yet."

* * *

Sakura felt her skin get hot again as his voice dipped lower on the "yet" part of his statement. At that moment, there was a tap at the door, and Kakashi readjusted his mask as their server opened the door and produced a sizeable wooden model boat loaded down with a variety of sushi and sashimi. Still scowling at the saucy look in Kakashi's eyes, Sakura turned and thanked the server, who let them know to leave the door open if they needed anything.

Once the door closed, Kakashi pulled down his mask again, and they both sat in companionable silence for a few moments as they served themselves from the ridiculous boat and began to eat.

Swallowing the last bite of a piece of tuna, Sakura spoke up, returning to their conversation. "I started seeing you differently after that. The hat was kind of cute, too." She looked at him pointedly. "Your turn."

"Mine isn't as embarrassing as yours," he said proudly.

"I hate you," she pouted, making like she was going to poke him with her chopsticks. "Tell me."

"Alright, alright." He paused a moment for affect, and Sakura rolled her eyes. He finally continued, "It was when you almost kissed me."

Blinking at him, Sakura protested. "When did I—I never—wait. I kissed _everybody_ at Naruto's inauguration."

It was true. It had been an amazing day, and Sakura's heart had been so full of joy that she'd been embracing and kissing people left and right. In fact, she heard Sai had made a good amount of money from selling copies of his drawing of her kissing Ino. (Ino, having received part of the cut, didn't complain, much to Sakura's dismay.) All of the kisses had been fairly chaste pecks, of course.

"Exactly." Kakashi leaned forward, fixing her with that dark stare. "You kissed everybody… except me." One corner of his mouth lazily curled upward. "You grabbed me, leaned in, and then you just stopped and stared at me for a second. You'd never looked at me like that before."

Knowing that she was blushing now, Sakura lowered her head a little. She dimly remembered the moment he was talking about; she thought she had covered it well by hugging him instead. She'd had no idea that her feelings had been so obvious. Eyebrows knitting together, she tilted her head as she looked at him. "So, you're saying that you started… feeling like this… because I _didn't_ kiss you?"

"Yeah, I guess so," he said, looking unconcerned by the strange logic. When she stared at him for a few moments longer, considering his words, he gave her that smirk again. "It's not as bad as being vicariously seduced."

Wrinkling her nose at him in annoyance, she said, "Shut up. Don't change the subject. How does me not kissing you make you like me?"

He shrugged.

A small smile curled Sakura's lips, and she gave him a knowing look. "So that's what did it."

"You don't seem that surprised," Kakashi mused, eyeing her closely.

"You probably don't remember, but I walked you home that night. You were pretty inebriated, thanks to Genma." She smirked a little, remembering. _More like he was bombed out of his mind._ "You kept giggling and flirting and calling me a pretty girl."

Kakashi's jaw actually dropped slightly before he recovered, and Sakura laughed. He was so expressive without his mask. "I don't remember any of that. Why didn't you ever say anything about it?"

She shrugged. "You didn't seem to remember, and I figured it was just you being intoxicated."

They both sat for a moment in thought, each of them taking a few bites of sushi. When Sakura eventually tried to press him again on why _not_ kissing him had changed how he looked at her, he would only answer "I saw you". She tried to frown at his evasiveness, but wasn't able to summon up any actual irritation, because she knew what he meant. She had felt the same way that day in his office when she'd watched him flirt with that diplomat—like she was seeing him for the first time. She felt like that now, as she watched this man that she had known for years open up to her, and she felt full of an emotion that she wasn't quite ready to name.

* * *

 _Conversation about feelings accomplished. I really am good at this,_ Kakashi mused to himself, back to feeling confident as he and Sakura finished their meal with only occasional light conversation and lingering, heated looks. Maybe dating wasn't so bad after all. Of course, he'd already known that he liked spending time with Sakura, but dates came with sometimes silly (to his mind) expectations. He was glad to find that Sakura's expectations seemed to be in line with what he was more than happy to do for her.

Okay, so he wasn't more than happy to talk about his feelings—he hadn't changed _that_ much. But the way she was looking at him reminded him of that moment during Naruto's inauguration, and why he was doing all of this: because he'd seen that look and his first thought had been, _I want her to look at me like that all the time._ It had scared the shit out of him, and it had continued to scare him as the weeks went by and his interest in her had only grown. It took months for him to even consider that maybe having feelings for her wasn't something he should run away from, and even then, he'd waited because he didn't want to risk their friendship if it was just a passing fancy. When the months passed and he'd realized that it wasn't, and then she'd gone and accused him of liking her, he had decided that he was finally going to do something about it.

As the remains of their "love boat" were taken away, they both finished the last of their drinks. Kakashi put his hand out on the table, palm up, and when she put her hand in his, he smiled softly. Yeah, dating wasn't so bad.

"Ready to go?" he inquired, rubbing the pad of his thumb slowly over her knuckles. "I can take you home," he said, and when she didn't immediately respond he added, "Or we can go get a drink."

Something shifted in her eyes, and she seemed almost hesitant. "That would be nice."

"We don't have to—" he began.

"No! No, a drink would be nice," she said, waving off his inquisitive look.

With that, they both slid out of the booth. He turned and left payment for the bill, and then they both walked to the door. Flashing a dark look to the host he'd bribed earlier, Kakashi opened the door for Sakura and then followed her out of the restaurant.

It wasn't until they'd reached the edges of the civilian district and were approaching the bar that he realized that they weren't touching. True, they walked together and didn't touch all the time, but he was almost positive that it was usually different on dates. Frowning slightly, Kakashi studied Sakura from the corner of his eye. Although she seemed unusually pensive, she didn't seem _angry_ , just… thoughtful. That made him nervous, although he didn't show that to her.

As they neared the scarred wooden door of the bar, Sakura spoke up. "Listen… I know you're a pretty private person. And I want you to know that I'll be discreet."

Kakashi's brow furrowed. "What do you—"

"It's not a big deal. You don't have to say anything." Giving him a wan smile, she opened the door and went inside.

Kakashi was completely caught off guard. He had no idea what the hell had just happened, but he wasn't so dim as to miss its significance; if he wasn't careful, this was all going to go south, fast. Apparently, somewhere along the way, Sakura had gotten the idea that he didn't want to be seen with her. _She thinks I'm ashamed of her,_ he thought, stunned.

This was probably the moment for a grand statement, or a dramatic gesture, but Kakashi wasn't too well-versed in that arena. The very thought filled him with embarrassment; he wasn't very fond of doing things in public that drew a lot of attention, Gai's contests notwithstanding. But that unhappy little smile that Sakura had given him before going inside wouldn't leave his mind. _She thinks you're ashamed of her, and she's hurt,_ he growled at himself. _Are you really going to let that stand?_

He exhaled sharply. _Like hell_ , he thought, and flung the door open.

* * *

Sakura felt resigned, though glad that she had dealt with the situation. It was good for all of the cards to be on the table; now, she knew where they both stood. There was nothing to say that he wouldn't come around in the future, right?

Sighing, she flashed a smile to her friends as she walked toward their usual corner. Ino, Sai, Chouji, Shikamaru, Naruto, Hinata and Rock Lee sat loosely assembled on stools around the large rectangular table. At the bar was another group of elite jōnin: Kurenai, Anko, Genma, and Gai. It was a big turnout, considering how busy they all were these days. Sakura couldn't remember the last time she'd seen their Hokage twice in one week. Her friends seemed to be discussing a mission that Tenten was on in Wind country, but they all turned to greet her as she approached.

"Sakura!" Ino said brightly. "I was wondering if we were going to see you tonight—" Ino paused, her turquoise eyes flicking over Sakura's shoulder.

Sakura didn't have time to follow Ino's gaze before she felt a hand settle on her hip, sliding around to splay on her stomach and gently pull her backward. Another hand cupped her head as she turned it, and she let out a soft gasp as she saw Kakashi's face looming close to hers. He didn't give her any time to recover, leaning in and brushing his masked lips against hers before pressing them in a firmer kiss. Without thinking, she lifted her hand to his jaw and leaned into him.

A lot of things happened at once.

Ino shrieked, " _It's happening!_ ", while excitedly shaking Sai, who was wearing his I'm-not-sure-what's-going-on smile.

Naruto whooped and shouted "Believe it!" while Hinata laughed softly.

Rock Lee made an impossible noise that managed to be both a groan of dismay and a shout of joy at the same time, and Chouji laughed as Shikamaru (of course) started mumbling something about "troublesome romantic types". Meanwhile, at the bar, Kurenai and Genma exploded into an animated discussion about some kind of bet, while Gai had launched into one of his speeches about beauty and love. Anko was just laughing, in a laughing-at-you-and-not-with-you sort of way.

Kakashi pulled back, and Sakura stared at him dizzily as he gave her his familiar eye-creasing smile. She knew she was blushing, and she couldn't be sure, but she thought he might be blushing under the mask, too.

"Okay?" he whispered, and his affectionate but exasperated tone implied that he thought she'd been kind of an idiot.

 _He's not wrong,_ she thought. Feeling like her chest would burst with warmth, she smiled widely to him in response. "Okay," she whispered back.

Clearing his throat, he scratched the back of his neck and looked up at the assembled shinobi who were still exclaiming over them. "I could use a drink. Do you want a drink? I'll get us drinks," he said quickly, clearly trying not to act embarrassed and failing miserably. Sakura nodded, still smiling like an idiot, and watched him meander over toward the bar.

Turning back to her own group of friends, Sakura laughed bashfully as Ino leaned out to grab her wrist and yank her forcefully toward an empty stool beside her. Ino's face had a salacious grin as she said, "Spill it, Forehead, we want all the details."

Further down the table, Shikamaru grunted, "No we don't," and received an elbow in the ribs from Chouji.

"It just… happened," Sakura said evasively. She had a feeling that Kakashi's wordless claiming of her had pushed him to the furthest edges of his comfort zone, and that he wouldn't exactly appreciate the fine details of their business being gossiped about.

"It happened at the war remembrance, right? It did, didn't it?" Naruto said excitedly. Sakura didn't respond, but he read her face easily and crowed, "I knew it! He was acting shiftier than usual the next day."

"Forehead, let's talk about what's important." Ino leaned in, but didn't lower her voice at all when she asked, "How's the sex? Is he packing? Is it… you know?" she asked, holding her hands about six inches apart, and then moving them wider to indicate growth.

The rest of the table groaned in dismay, Hinata nearly passed out, and Sakura had occasion to think that _maybe_ they shouldn't have gone public, after all.

No one said she wasn't fickle.

* * *

If Kakashi thought going to the bar was going to provide him any relief, he was dead wrong.

As he got near to his friends, Gai grabbed him by the shoulders, a veritable waterfall of tears running down his face. "My eternal rival! Look how much you glow in the grips of love's glorious splendor! It is proof that youth graces us forever, as long as we remain open to the wondrous bounties that life has to offer!"

"Diplomatic meeting, huh?" Genma snarked, smirking around his senbon.

"Good for you, Kakashi," Kurenai said, smiling. Beside her, Anko was laughing again, presumably at him, although he wasn't stupid enough to ask.

"Kakashi…" Gai grabbed Kakashi's attention again as the he leaned closer, his voice suddenly dropping into a deadly serious tone. "If she ever hurts you, I'll throw her out a window."

They all paused for a moment, staring at Gai. He paused and then burst into hearty laughter as if he'd just delivered a punchline, and Genma muttered "in love with you" at the same time that Anko said, "Shit, Gai. We keep telling you that you're disturbing when you try to make jokes."

"I don't know; if he throws Sakura out a window, the resulting fight might be worth the destruction just on entertainment value alone," Kurenai mused.

Kakashi shook himself free of Gai's grasp and raised two fingers to the bartender. "If we could all stop discussing the defenestration of my—" He paused.

"—your _girlfriend…?_ " Anko said with a devious grin, drawing the word out. The rest of his old friends all chuckled.

"I hate all of you with a fiery passion," Kakashi deadpanned.

"Got to hand it to you, you sure have great timing. Two days earlier and I would have lost the bet," Genma said cheerfully.

Kurenai stiffened at that. "No way. This clearly didn't start today, and that means you didn't win—and I had last week. We won't know the real winner until we know precisely when it started." As she finished, all four of the assembled shinobi turned to look at Kakashi inquisitively.

Kakashi's head dropped as he groaned. "I'm not telling you a thing." As the bartender brought over a bottle of saké and two cups, Kakashi received them and paid, pausing to level a narrow-eyed glare at his friends. "I can't believe you had a pool going."

None of them looked the slightest bit ashamed, and Genma quipped, "It was Kurenai's doing. I mean, we _all_ knew it was going to happen, but she noticed it way back in—"

"Right, right, you're all prescient geniuses," Kakashi interrupted, saving a special glare for Kurenai. She just responded with a small, smug smile. "Now, if you'll excuse me…" He turned and began to walk back toward Sakura.

"Where do you think you're going?" Anko said as she and Genma both stood in unison, beginning to follow him. Gai followed behind _them_ , and Kurenai brought up the rear.

Kakashi gritted his teeth, but when he saw Sakura turn and give him a warm smile, his lips curved a little.

 _Worth it._

* * *

Having successfully defended herself from Ino's onslaught of increasingly personal questions, Sakura was relieved when Kakashi returned with their drinks, and amused that his friends had followed. As the two groups greeted each other and made several jokes at the couple's expense, Sakura reached out for Kakashi's hand underneath the table, and he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze in response.

 _He really is a good man_ , she thought to herself as he winked discreetly at her while pouring her drink. Ino, of course, caught the exchange and started cooing and shaking Sai again, who just put down his drink to avoid spilling it.

It was around the third time that Kakashi 'accidentally' brushed her hand with his thumb, and Naruto shouted "Get a room!", and Kakashi muttered "I'd love to", that Sakura started making excuses to leave. They were about as believable as Kakashi's usually were. As she was in the middle of explaining that she really _was_ worried about leaving her house unattended when there were seedy elements in her neighborhood, Kakashi abruptly slinked off his stool and tugged at her arm.

"An excellent point," he said. "We should go check on your house. Wouldn't want any enterprising youths—"

"Seedy elements," she corrected.

"Whatever. We have to go." Sakura stifled a laugh as she stood.

"You haven't even finished your saké!" Naruto pouted.

"They don't need it. They're drunk on love," Ino purred.

"You and Hinata finish it, Naruto," she offered, letting out a breathy giggle as Kakashi insistently pulled her by the hand. "So, well, okay bye!" Sakura finished incoherently as he tugged her out the door.

* * *

Despite his lingering embarrassment, Kakashi was feeling pretty good. The color was back in Sakura's face, she was smiling broadly, and listening to her laugh was filling him with a strange sense of pride. _He_ was the one who made her laugh. She smiled that way at _him_.

As they walked toward her house, her arm looped through his, she leaned into him. "I'm sorry about before."

"You mean the part where you assumed that I was trying to keep you as some sort of, what, secret mistress?" he said, his tone gently teasing.

Laughing ruefully, Sakura nodded. "Well, I mean, you're so private, and you said that nobody has to know about us, and then you took us to that nice, _private_ restaurant…"

He gave her a look. "I said nobody has to know because you were so worried about their reaction. I don't care what they think. I picked the restaurant because I wanted to be able to take my mask off. Also, their sushi is amazing."

"Okay, okay, I'm an idiot."

He made a wordless sound of agreement, and she elbowed him lightly. Smirking under his mask, Kakashi quirked a brow at her. "Do you feel better now?"

Beaming, she nodded, and he laughed softly under his breath at how pleased she was. She leaned against him, and they each looped an arm around the other.

They walked on in companionable silence… until they were walking down her empty street, and she let her hand slide from his waist to his ass and squeezed. Kakashi started and yelped dramatically.

She laughed, and he grinned and pulled her into him, flash-stepping to her doorstep. While she fumbled to retrieve her key and get it into the lock, he pulled down his mask and slid his arms around her waist from behind, distractingly nibbling on her neck and murmuring, "What's taking so long? Can't you unlock a door? You're so bad at this," while sliding his hands over her hips and stomach.

Giggling, she stopped and arched back against him. "Behave, or I won't let you in," she purred sweetly. The innuendo was not lost on him.

He nipped harder at her neck and she made a small, delicious sound at the back of her throat, and Kakashi tightened his grip on her hips, holding her against him. "You greatly overestimate my modesty if you think I won't take you right here," he whispered into her ear, enjoying the way she shivered at the feeling of his breath against her skin. "But I plan on taking my time tonight, and your bed would be much more comfortable."

She let him in.

* * *

Kakashi followed her inside, pushing the door shut with one foot, turning her to face him. He stopped her just inside the threshold, and weapons-roughened hands reached up to tip her head back. She didn't know what she was expecting—maybe for him to rip her dress off the second they got inside—but it wasn't the soft brush of his lips against her temple, her forehead, down to her cheek and jaw. By the time he made it to her lips she felt like she would die if he didn't kiss her.

But he _didn't_ kiss her; pulling back, he let his fingers slide into her hair, his eyes meeting hers. Sakura felt her breath catch in her throat at the look in his eyes—he looked at her like she was the only person in the world, like he'd found something he'd been searching for.

And _then_ he kissed her.

Just a soft kiss, and then a longer one, and then he was parting his lips and his tongue was asking for entry and Sakura was leaning into him, opening for him. His movements were slow, teasing, but no less intense as he slid his tongue over hers. She slid her hands up to grip his shirt, and when he turned them both and pressed her gently into the door, she sighed and let him slide his leg between hers.

He didn't say a single word, just lavished her lips, her jaw, her neck with his attention. _You're mine,_ was all she could think as he nuzzled into the sensitive hollow beneath her ear, and it was only when he hummed in agreement that she realized she'd spoken aloud.

She slid her hands to begin undoing the buttons of his shirt, leaning up to graze her teeth over his earlobe. Finished with those buttons, she took his wrist in her hands, unbuttoning his cuff. When he brushed his finger against her lips and she drew his finger into her mouth, his breathing quickened, and he shifted his leg against her, his hard thigh pressing against her cloth-covered mound. She moaned, and he pulled his hand away so that he could kiss her again, lightly sucking on her lower lip as she undid his other cuff. As she slid the shirt off of his shoulders, he dropped his arms so she could push it down and onto the floor. She made short work of his undershirt and mask, and soon they joined the button-down shirt in a pile at their feet.

He knelt fluidly, to her surprise, and his hands smoothed down over her calves before he began deftly unfastening her sandals, while she steadied herself with her hands on his shoulders. The entire time, he kept eyes trained on hers, his gaze smoldering, and Sakura felt a coiling in her stomach, feeling as if the heat from his gaze was spreading through her. Stepping out first one sandal and then the next, she shifted her hands from his shoulders as he stood, her fingers dropping to tug him toward her by his belt loops. She leaned up for a lingering, sweet kiss, and then began slowly pushing him back toward her bedroom.

He kicked his own sandals off as he allowed her to push him back, but Kakashi wouldn't allow himself to be hurried. His steps were slow, his arms coming around her as he pulled her with him. His fingers trailed from the nape of her neck downward, finding the zipper to her dress and dragging it slowly down. When his warm fingers lightly touched the small of her back, Sakura shivered deliciously, tilting her head to give his hot mouth better access as he nuzzled into her neck. His open-mouthed kisses traveled down to her shoulder as he slid the straps of her dress down and over her arms, until her dress slid down over her smooth skin to puddle on the floor around her feet.

Taking her hands in his, Kakashi pulled away long enough to look at her, glowing in white lace panties and matching strapless bra. Sakura could feel the hungry look he gave her in the core of her, and it made her feel powerful, to have this incredible man want her so badly. He pulled her through the doorway and toward the bed, acquiescing as she put her hands on his shoulders and pushed him gently down.

As soon as he sat, she was straddling him and kissing him for all she was worth. Again, he refused to be hurried, and she slowed to his pace. His hands smoothed over her hips and up her sides, one hand sliding behind her to unfasten her bra while the other waited to pull it away and let it drop to the floor. When she pulled his tongue into her mouth and sucked, he groaned, and she rolled her hips into his to hear him do it again.

His hands dropped to grip her hips, raising her off him slightly as he broke from her mouth to kiss down her neck and graze his teeth over her collarbone. With her weight resting on her knees, Sakura shuddered as he traced fingers down over her inner thigh as his hungry mouth grazed over her breast and found her nipple. When his tongue swept around her nipple before he began to suck on it, she moaned for him. His fingers brushed against her cloth-covered sex, and she murmured his name.

Kakashi moved his hand away from between her thighs and placed it on the small of her back, his other hand settling between her shoulder blades as he abruptly lifted her, turning them both and laying her down before lowering himself as well. His mouth found her other nipple and this time he grazed it with his teeth and bit softly before sucking, and Sakura let out a soft cry, unconsciously rolling her hips upward.

He pushed her hips gently back down, curling his fingers in the waistband of her panties and sliding them down enough to fit his hand inside. As his warm hand cupped her, Sakura whimpered, and she could feel him smile around her nipple at the sounds she was making. She was past caring, completely lost to the fire that he stoked as he touched her. When his middle finger slid between her folds and he discovered just how wet she was for him, he groaned into her breast, sliding his finger inside her.

Lifting his head, Kakashi's lips crashed down on hers, and their tongues stroked feverishly against each other. At the same time, he withdrew his finger from her and began to swirl its slick pad over her clit, and he swallowed her moans as she writhed beneath him. As his finger swirled over the sensitive bundle of nerves, he released her mouth and moved his lips to her ear, murmuring encouragement as she ground herself against him. Sakura could feel herself climbing higher, her body getting hotter with each of his sure touches.

She was so caught up in pleasure that she didn't notice he'd moved until she felt his lips kissing between her breasts and moving downward. The hand between her legs pulled away enough to slide her panties down, over her legs, finally pulling them off. Running his hand up her thigh, he encouraged her to open her legs as he slid between them, his fingers returning to their task of rubbing teasing, indolent circles over her clit. She gasped as she felt his tongue flick into her navel before he kissed lower, the haphazard silver spikes of his hair brushing the insides of her spreading thighs.

When she felt his teeth graze the sensitive skin where her thigh met her torso, Sakura whimpered, but when his hot mouth closed over her sex she moaned. Long, sure fingers came down to spread her folds, giving him unimpeded access to her. As his tongue dipped inside her, she automatically curled her hips toward him, and he moved his free hand to her hip, keeping her still. Moving almost lazily upward, he pressed his lips around her clit and sucked, grey eyes flashing up to watch her face as she moaned, "Oh god, Kakashi…"

His wicked tongue teased and tormented her as two fingers moved to press into her, and a "yes" hissed out of her mouth as he curled his fingers in a beckoning motion inside her. Sakura threw her head back into the pillow, arching beneath his ministrations, her hands flying down to grip his head to her, fingers tensing in his hair. His mouth was so hot, and she was so wet, the sensations were nearly more than she could stand as his fingers slid in and out of her. When he started moving his fingers faster, and she could hear the wet sounds of her own arousal, she almost came. But when he deliberately made a purring sound against her swollen clit, it was enough to push her over the edge, her orgasm swelling up and then crashing over her, her whole body taut with pleasure.

Kakashi kept his mouth on her as she came, hands moving to hold her thighs and keep them from closing. Aftershocks trembled through her as she moaned, lightly tugging upward on his hair. She wanted him, his mouth on hers and his cock inside her.

"Not yet," he murmured against one thigh before giving it a soft nip, one corner of his mouth crooking upward as she moaned again. Releasing her hold on his hair, she let her hands drop to her sides to twist in the sheets, having long since decided that she was happy to let Kakashi do whatever he wanted.

As she came down, his touches were feather light at first, soft and coaxing on her overly tender flesh. Soon enough, his thumb had found her clit again and was slowly pressing circles as his tongue returned to teasing the lips of her sex. Soon she was panting again, toes curling as he masterfully brought her higher and higher, pushing her to that edge again.

"Kakashi, please…" she practically whined, her voice filled with lust as she writhed on the bed. He raised his head from her, leaving her trembling with need. Sakura whimpered as he pulled back completely, unhurriedly removing his pants and boxer briefs—she wanted him so badly, and she impatiently moaned his name when his hard manhood came into view.

The sound of his name falling from her lips as she stared at his cock was almost enough to make Kakashi lose control—but he didn't, not yet. He crawled over her, sliding between her legs and letting his hands glide up over her stomach to cup her breasts. Pressing his hips forward, he ground himself against her fevered flesh, not yet penetrating her, and they both panted in anticipation. Her whole body felt hot, and she whimpered at the feel of his skin against hers.

"Sakura… look at me," he breathed, and when she moved her gaze to meet his dark and hooded eyes. She whispered his name one more time, angling her hips toward him, and he relented, pressing his mouth to hers as he pushed himself inside her.

Their breaths mingled as they moaned in unison, her slick walls stretching to accept his girth, their foreheads touching. Knowing he had already brought her close to another orgasm, he pulled his hips back and then pushed them forward again, harder, and her inner walls fluttered around him. She ran her hands up his arms, gripping at his shoulders as he moved against her, and she trembled with every thrust. One particularly strong thrust finally sent her over that edge and as she cried out beneath him Kakashi clenched his jaw, fighting against his own release as he felt her walls grip his cock.

Though he let out a low moan, he managed to keep hold of himself, slowing his movements to a crawl. She murmured unintelligible sounds against his throat, shaky hands running over his back.

She felt dizzy with desire even as she drifted down from her orgasm. The feel of him still hard inside her as she trembled around him was incredible. She told him so, murmuring sweetly against his cheek. He turned, catching her lips with his own, and began slowly moving in her again.

His lips moved against hers insistently, deliciously, and she could feel that he was finally beginning to lose control, and she encouraged him by raising her legs and rolling her hips toward him. Without breaking their kiss, he curled his arms under her bent knees and thrust into her again. The changed angle drove him into the perfect spot inside of her, and she moaned into his mouth, making him moan in return.

He thrust into her faster, finally breaking their kiss as his breathing became harsh. The way his pelvis hit her engorged clit, and the way his cock stroked deep inside her, soon had her whimpering his name again as pleasure built within her. His thrusts came harder and faster, almost desperate as he bit out her name in reply, taking her higher, ever higher. When a particular stroke sent a bolt of lightning through her that had her walls clenching around him, it ripped a groan from his throat. "That's right," he rasped, one hand left her leg to snake down and rub her clit, "That's it, Sakura, one more time. I need you to come with me," he pleaded.

"Oh god, Kakashi." Hearing the roughness of his voice, knowing she was doing that to him, only increased her arousal. Combining that with his powerful thrusts and his wicked, wicked hand drove her into a final, intense orgasm that pulled a short scream from her throat and made her whole body shake, her hands fisting in his hair. As she tightened and throbbed around him, he gave a wordless cry and finally gave in, thrusting raggedly into her as he came. She nearly sobbed as he thrust into her one last time, trembling as she held him against her, his body quivering like a bowstring. He dropped his head, panting against her shoulder as her hands dropped to run over his back, both of them softly moaning as aftershocks had her inner walls fluttering around his gradually softening cock.

When he finally lifted his head, he kissed her sweetly, pulling back to look at her. The smile that crossed his face was warm, and his eyes had softened into an expression that took Sakura's already labored breath away. It was the look of a man in love, and it left her stunned as he pulled out of her, rolling to the side and pulling her into his chest.

* * *

"You love me."

Sakura's voice was so soft that it was barely a whisper, but Kakashi heard her, and her words made him freeze. His sex-fogged brain considered playing it off and teasing her for her continuing accusations. But he didn't—he couldn't. Because, though he'd been denying it to himself, he knew she was right. It terrified him beyond measure, but if he was honest with himself, he knew that he'd probably already been more than a little in love with her even before they kissed.

Kakashi did not love easily, but when he did love, he loved fully. And as much as loving her scared him, the thought of losing her because he was too broken to let himself fall scared him even more.

So he decided to fall.

"You love me too," he murmured, and when she curled into his chest he pulled her close. Burying his face in her hair, he inhaled her scent deeply, and smiled.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Aaaand J'accuse…! is finished. This story was never supposed to be that long (once upon a time I thought it was going to be a oneshot – HA), and was really intended to be a way for me to get used to writing again, so I really appreciate all of you coming on this sometimes-clumsy little journey with me. To the lovely reviewer who suggested this story could go on for 10-30 chapters (!), I appreciate your vote of confidence, but I think I've wrung every last drop from this plot. This chapter is mostly just silly scenes that I've been tossing around in my head, tying up loose ends, and an epilogue.

This chapter will take place after a time skip of about 10 months. Also, just a reminder: if Naruto was a multiverse, this story would take place in the Happiest Timeline. So, you know, silliness and fluff abound. I've tried to avoid going too far OOC, but hell, I wanted to have fun with it. (Translation: I make no apologies for drunk Sasuke.)

* * *

 _This is it. I'm going to do it._

A bead of sweat slowly trailed over Kakashi's temple. His hand shook slightly, and he endeavored to steady it as he took a deep breath. There was nothing to worry about. He was an S-class ninja, after all, and this was just a scroll protected by a chakra seal. And he'd never met a seal he couldn't break. Granted, some of those broken seals left a nice crater of destruction when he was done with them, but he was sure that wouldn't happen here.

Sakura would never lay that kind of trap for him, right?

The scroll in question lay rather ominously on Sakura's counter—though Kakashi supposed that it was actually _their_ counter now, as he'd all but moved in. Not that that gave him any sort of say in what went on in the household—for example, he had absolutely no say about who was and was not allowed to touch the scroll. The _suspicious_ scroll.

It looked like an ordinary storing scroll, except for the words KEEP OUT and a clumsily drawn skull that were scrawled across it in black ink. Sakura was a terrible artist, but her meaning was still clear. Kakashi felt absolutely no guilt, however, for what he was about to do. She'd brought this on herself with all her curiosity-whetting secrecy.

It had started normally enough, with her staying late after work a couple nights a week. Then it was every other day, and then it was every day, and her explanation had been a blunt "It's none of your business". A week ago, she had come home and told him she wouldn't be late anymore, and that's when she'd taken the scroll out of her work coat and placed it on the counter. For the rest of the week he'd been subjected to badly-muffled snickers every time she caught him looking at it beadily or reaching out to touch it. She was clearly getting a kick out of the whole thing, and Kakashi was sick of it. He _had_ to know what was inside.

Forming several rapid hand signs, he placed his hand on the scroll and was about to say "Release!" when the front door crashed open. Startled, he leaped back guiltily, his gaze flying to the terrifying specter of a scowling Sakura standing in the doorway. Shit. He'd forgotten what time she was coming home.

"Ahaha…" Kakashi laughed nervously. "Hello, lady friend…"

"You were trying to peek!" she growled, stabbing the air with her index finger.

"No! I was… going to dust…" he insisted weakly.

"Dust. The kitchen counter. With your hand," came her flat, disbelieving response. But there was a gleam in her eye, and a twist to her lips, that told him she was more amused than angry.

Time to go on the offense. "You know, I wouldn't have to do this if you'd stop acting so cagey," he said slyly, sidling up to her as he reached behind her to push the door shut. Snaking an arm around her waist, he pulled her to him, dipping his head to nibble her neck through his mask. "Tell me what it is."

"You get to open your _birthday present_ on your _birthday_. That's how this whole thing works."

Kakashi sighed. Having expectations around his birthday was an aspect to being in a relationship that he hadn't prepared himself for. After all, they'd been together for over ten months now, so he thought that he'd pretty much gotten this whole relationship thing down. They'd both adjusted to being together as if it required no adjustment at all, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Sure, they were still playfully antagonistic with each other, but they rarely actually fought. When he had his occasional dark days, she just seemed to know when to leave him alone and when to give him company. Meanwhile, Kakashi's generally calm nature served as the perfect foil for Sakura's hotter head.

The fact that they were both secretly giant dorks didn't hurt.

But this was the first time Kakashi was experiencing a birthday with Sakura, and the whole thing had made him a mess. For one thing, she had told _everybody—_ every single one of his no-good friends who had been dying to know when his birthday was ever since they were at the academy together. Then, despite him telling her that he didn't want to do anything, Sakura had insisted that they invite all his friends to a "simple birthday dinner" that was "no big deal" and he "shouldn't shit a brick about it". He did _not_ appreciate that last part.

It really wasn't fair—when Sakura had _her_ birthday, only a few months after they'd gotten together, Kakashi had simply _asked_ her what she wanted, and then provided it. He'd made her dinner, they'd gone out to celebrate with her friends, and then they'd had fantastic sex. It had been the caring, respectful way to plan a birthday, or so he'd thought, but Sakura obviously had different ideas about birthdays. She hadn't asked him what he wanted at all. _I was so considerate, and she's just being a… birthday dictator._

Kakashi had a lot of feelings about it.

And then there was the scroll. The stupid, secret, suspicious scroll.

"Just give me a peek," he said, and this time his voice had dropped into that lower register that he knew she liked. The one that made her moan when he was inside her and murmuring filthy things in her ear. He slid his hands up to slide her work coat off her shoulders, and she let him push it to the floor as she smiled and leaned into him. "I'll make it worth your while."

"Oh?" she said coyly as she tipped her head up to face him, her own greedy little hands sliding around to smooth over his rear. The cold and calculating part his brain—the part that was wholly focused on what the hell was in that _fucking scroll_ —was pleased: now he had his voice _and_ his ass working in his favor. Everything was proceeding according to plan.

"Mm. I'll make some tea… give you a nice foot rub while you tell me about your day…" His cloth-covered brushed against her temple as he trailed his lips over her cheekbone. She reached up to pull his mask down, but he didn't kiss her like she wanted, staying tantalizingly out of reach, just barely letting his lips brush hers before he dipped his mouth lower to place an open-mouthed kiss on her neck. "…and then you can give me the present," he murmured silkily.

Up until that last part, she'd been pressing herself against him like an amorous cat, but when he mentioned the present she started giggling. Shit. He was losing her.

"I love how much this is getting to you," she said, grinning, her hands sliding up over his ass to toy with the hem of his shirt. "It just kills you to not know something, doesn't it?"

He frowned slightly, forgetting he was supposed to be seducing information out of her. "Just tell me— _ee!"_ His sentence was interrupted by a decidedly unmanly sound as her fingers, still cold from the chill outside air, wormed under his shirt to press against his sides.

Sakura cackled. "What kind of noise was that?"

He glared at her, hissing slightly as she moved her hands around to his abdomen. "It's the sound of someone being assaulted by _Woman Jutsu: Icy Fingers of Death."_

"They're _cold_ ," she said, pouting cutely, but the pout melted into a slightly lecherous smile as she pushed her hands up higher under his shirt, one chilled thumb brushing over his nipple.

He gritted his teeth as his hands shot up under his shirt to grab each of her wrists, pulling them out and holding them as he pushed her back toward the door. Pulling her arms further up, he pinned them on either side of her, a slight smirk on his lips. Sakura hummed as he slid one leg between her thighs, pressing against her as he dipped his head to whisper in her ear. "If you're going to keep using your hands to be so naughty, I'm going to have to pin you down."

She bit her lip flirtatiously, rolling her hips into him. "Then I plan to be very, very—"

Her words broke off sharply with the sudden spike of all-too-familiar chakra on the other side of the door, accompanied by a single sharp knock. For a moment of pure, pregnant silence, neither of them moved.

"Fuck," Kakashi grumbled, sighing into her neck.

Sakura just groaned.

They'd been lucky so far—the general reaction to their relationship had been positive, with no few shinobi wondering what had taken so long. But there had been one moment that they'd both been quietly dreading, and that moment had finally arrived.

Sasuke was back.

* * *

Sakura's brow furrowed Kakashi released her wrists and stepped away from her. Well, wasn't this just great timing. She knew that Naruto had told Sasuke about her relationship with Kakashi months ago, but this was the first time Sasuke had been back to the village since then, and she was filled with a mixture of trepidation and irritation. Trepidation, because this was Sasuke—he wasn't exactly known for being emotionally well-adjusted, and it was hard to predict how he was going to react to _anything_ , much less the news that his first love had taken up with his former teacher. Irritation, because Sakura resented the idea that her former lover even had the right to have an opinion about her new relationship.

She turned and opened the door, gasping as a kunai sailed past her face. Kakashi, the intended target, caught it neatly from where he stood in a relaxed slouch behind her, letting it twirl idly on one finger. His mask, of course, was back in place, and his eyes were casually void of emotion.

"Yo," Kakashi said lightly.

Sasuke stood with his arms crossed, his face impassive. The marmalade colors of the afternoon sunset backlit him perfectly, and Sakura rolled her eyes, willing to believe that he'd planned it that way. He fixed Kakashi with a cold look. Kakashi gave him an unflappable stare in return. Sakura looked from one to the other and scowled. _If this is going to turn into some stupid masculine competition—_

"Let's go, _sensei,_ " Sasuke taunted with a small, dark smirk. He didn't even look at Sakura before he turned and began moving down the walk. She frowned, turning to see that Kakashi had already retrieved his kunai holster and flak vest, throwing them over his shoulder as he pulled on his sandals.

Sakura watched him gear up with growing irritation, finally snapping as he breezed past her. "Where are you _going_?"

"Sasuke and I always spar when he's in town," Kakashi called over his shoulder.

Blinking, Sakura scowled again. "But—you—damn it, Kakashi, if you try to kill each other I am _not_ healing you."

He paused and turned halfway to look at her, his eyes smiling. "Just a friendly spar. I'm sure he won't kill me." After a thoughtful pause, he added, "Probably."

Sakura watched them both dart off to the training grounds, her teeth clenched. _Why are all shinobi such violent idiots?_ she wondered, conveniently ignoring her well-established penchant for destroying everything in her immediate vicinity when she was pissed off.

Needing someone to take her ire out on, she locked the house up and proceeded to stomp her way toward the Hokage tower. If she had to deal with this idiocy, then she wasn't going to deal with it alone.

* * *

Kakashi slouched into a deceptively casual stance as he looked at his former pupil. Sasuke, in turn, faced him with his usual stoicism. They stood in one of the many clearings in the team's old training grounds. "Has your mission been going well?" Kakashi asked, still using the same light tone from before.

"Hn," Sasuke answered, turning into a blur as he rushed forward.

 _So much for pleasantries_ , Kakashi thought with an inward sigh as he blocked Sasuke's first strike, although he hadn't really expected much from his recalcitrant former student. Sasuke had exactly one form of communication that he was good at, and it involved using his fists. And feet. And kunai. And sword. For those who understood the language of fighting, he had a lot to say.

Fortunately, Kakashi was fluent.

He was surprised to find Sasuke in a nostalgic mood. In a move that harkened back to his days as a genin, Sasuke flew at him with a succession of kicks, followed by a succession of hand strikes. He alternately supported himself on the ground with his hands and then his feet, seeming unbothered by gravity as he left graceful swirls in the dirt where he'd touched down. It was a style that would have turned into a mess of limbs if a less-talented shinobi attempted it, but Sasuke made it look like a dance. Kakashi had always thought that Sasuke's early fighting style was a thing of beauty, and he was pleased to see that he'd retained the ability despite being much bigger than he was in his youth.

Kakashi was able to block every hit, but that didn't seem to matter—Sasuke had something to say and was saying it in the only way he knew how, with blocks and blows that echoed all the times they had sparred together when he was young. _Remember who we used to be? Remember who I used to be, when I was the only thing that mattered to her?_ A kunai suddenly in his hand, Sasuke slashed down in a powerful stroke, and Kakashi only just managed to defend with his own kunai. _How could you?_

Kakashi had a choice to make: he could continue to stay on the defensive and allow Sasuke to get out his frustrations, or he could meet his level of force and hopefully overcome it. It really wasn't any kind of choice at all; for one thing, Sasuke would only get angrier if he sensed that Kakashi was placating him. More importantly, Kakashi would be damned if he'd do anything _but_ fight for Sakura, even if the whole situation was kind of ridiculous and immature.

When Sasuke dropped slightly to aim a kick up at his jaw in preparation for his Barrage of Lions attack, Kakashi took his chance and used a substitution jutsu, leaving Sasuke to destroy a harmless log. Reappearing behind him, Kakashi struck out quickly with the flat of his hand, but Sasuke managed to recover fast enough from his position that he diverted most of the blow with a quickly raised forearm.

Kakashi had a moment to appreciate that their long-established sparring rules included a ban on dōjutsu, or Sasuke would have already been the victor of this fight. But he thought he caught a flash of color in Sasuke's dark, angry eyes as he wheeled and blew a stream of fire at him, and Kakashi had a feeling that the spar was about to get a lot more serious.

Sasuke glared at him as he unsheathed his sword and flew at Kakashi once more. Apparently, Sasuke had moved on from the nostalgia portion of the fight and into the slice-the-shit-out-of-Kakashi portion. Kakashi drew a second kunai in order to use both to catch the blade before it sliced him in half. The two men stared at one another, a mere foot apart as they struggled to overpower each other, and Sasuke bit out, "I'm going to kill you if you hurt her."

It was rich, hearing Sasuke say that. When Sakura and Sasuke had broken up, Sasuke had left the village on another one of his extended missions, so he didn't witness the fallout. She'd told Kakashi and Naruto that the breakup had been instigated by her, that she'd realized that she could never be the quiet wife who waits at home and raises the kids without her absentee husband. But she had been _devastated_ , walking around like a black cloud of death for weeks, and Kakashi and Naruto had both privately concurred that Sasuke was an idiot for not trying harder to meet her halfway.

Plus, there were all those times he tried to kill her. That was an important point.

Kakashi couldn't help himself. "You've _already_ hurt her. Multiple times," he snarled back through clenched teeth, knowing that he was getting close to losing his usually even temper.

Sasuke's depthless eyes narrowed dangerously in response, and if Kakashi had been a lesser man, he would have swallowed nervously.

That may have not been the _best_ thing to say.

* * *

"I can't believe he only sent a clone," Sakura muttered with a frown as she ran over the rooftops toward the training grounds.

"Hey! I'm a fully functioning person with thoughts and feelings, you know," said Naruto's clone from where he easily kept up next to her. "I'm really getting tired of the way people treat clones around here. I'm thinking of starting a union."

Sakura gave him a beady look. "You clones have been a lot more annoying since Naruto started learning about politics."

The clone scoffed and returned to the subject at hand. "Look, you need me here to overpower them both, if it comes to that. I can do that, easy."

"If it comes to that? It's already come to that!" Sakura spat. In the time it had taken to fetch the clone she had gone from being angry to being angrily worried. She tried to tell herself that that was unnecessary but being on a team whose members had tried to kill each other on numerous occasions tended to lend credence to her fears.

"You worry too much, Sakura," Naruto said, unfazed by the situation. "This is just how they deal. It's a guy thing."

"It's a stupid thing," she sulked under her breath as they finally approached the training grounds.

They both slid to a stop at the edge of the clearing where Kakashi and Sasuke were, which was littered with discarded kunai and random scorch marks. They arrived just in time to see Kakashi falter long enough for Sasuke to open a long red slash across his chest with his sword. Sakura made a small noise of panic at the back of her throat, immediately embarrassed when Kakashi recovered like it was no big deal. The wound was probably a lot shallower than it looked, and she told herself to calm down—they _wouldn't_ kill each other.

Probably.

Sasuke's victory was short-lived; his sword-strike by necessity brought him back in close to Kakashi, and as the follow-through of his swing brought his shoulder down, Kakashi recovered quickly enough to counter with a swift chop to his throat. Sasuke suppressed what sounded like a rough cough as the two men briefly separated, both panting as they glared at each other.

"Hi guys! Hey Kakashi-sensei, how do you like your birthday present?" Naruto's clone yelled cheerfully.

Kakashi and Sasuke grunted simultaneously in lieu of a greeting, neither taking his eyes off the other. They had both, by some unspoken agreement, mostly foregone the use of ninjutsu, although the surrounding area was scorched enough to prove that they hadn't always succeeded at holding back. It easily could have been worse. Instead, they focused mostly on taijutsu, each appearing to prefer the actual feel of his fists hitting the other.

As they darted at each other once more and clashed together, sword against kunai, Sasuke growled, "Pervert."

Kakashi didn't miss a beat. "Traitor."

Sasuke's eyes glittered darkly. "Cradle-robber."

"I don't know, Sakura's not a spring chicken anymore," Naruto's clone intoned impishly from the sidelines, nearly poofing out of existence when Sakura's fist crashed into the top of his head.

"That's for sure," they all heard Sasuke mutter.

That was the last straw for Kakashi, and he blocked Sasuke's sword with one kunai-equipped hand and then swung a fist at Sasuke's face in an uncharacteristically brutish manner. It connected, almost certainly because Sasuke hadn't expected Kakashi to swing at him like they were in a bar brawl, the blunt sound of it ringing through the clearing. Sakura felt a bolt of arousal go through her, learning something new about herself, and coughed in embarrassment.

The swing left Kakashi overextended, and Sasuke managed to sweep his leg at the other man as he fell back, hooking Kakashi's legs out from beneath him. They both landed on their backs with dull thuds.

The wind knocked out of them both, they lay there for a moment, catching their respective breaths. Naruto's clone snickered, and Sakura shook her head in dismay, as if she hadn't just gotten a little wet at the sight of Kakashi punching Sasuke. That was a little secret that nobody else needed to know about.

Kakashi cleared his throat, wincing slightly as the motion pulled at the cut on his chest, and his voice was calm again as he looked at Sasuke and said, "You have always been an absolute brat."

"Hn." A brief, wicked smirk flashed across Sasuke's face as he turned his head and spat out blood, and Sakura's jaw dropped slightly. Sasuke wasn't even really angry anymore, he was just enjoying being able to piss Kakashi off so easily,she observed with surprise. Naruto's clone must have come to the same conclusion, because he gave a short laugh and called, "Sasuke, stop messing with him. You know he's old, he might have a heart attack or something."

Kakashi leveled a glare at Naruto's clone from where he still lay on the ground. "Fuck you."

Remembering that she was mad at Sasuke and Kakashi for their obnoxious _and definitely not sexy_ display, she crossed her arms over her chest with a frown. "Are you two done yet?"

Sasuke was already back on his feet and using a cloth to wipe Kakashi's blood off his sword, leaving himself open to attack in a wordless signal that he was finished fighting. Kakashi gave a beleaguered sigh and stood as well. Sakura watched them with the eyes of a medic: Kakashi was still bleeding slowly from the wound on his chest, and Sasuke's pale face was marred with a swelling bruise and possibly a broken jaw, judging from the uncomfortable way he was prodding at it with his fingers. The rest of the cuts and bruises they both wore were minor enough that she ignored them.

Sakura tutted as she made her way over to them, her hands glowing green as she went to heal the cut on Kakashi's chest, scowling at him when his eyes smiled at her above his mask. As she'd surmised, his chest wound wasn't as deep as it had first appeared, and in a few short minutes she had it healed completely.

The same scowl was given to Sasuke as she walked over and slapped his hand out of the way to inspect his jaw. He managed to look affronted and condescendingly amused at the same time, a feat that surely could only be accomplished by an Uchiha. Muttering under her breath about how _stupid_ men were, she discovered that his jaw was indeed fractured. Though she was sorely tempted to leave it that way as a punishment—she'd never claimed to be unbiased, after all—she ultimately drew her chakra to her hand again and set about healing it. After all, Kakashi had been happy to accept Sasuke's challenge, so this stupidity was just as much his fault.

"Well, this was fun. I really worked up an appetite," Naruto's clone stated.

"You didn't _do_ anything," Sasuke muttered, moving his jaw experimentally after Sakura had finished healing it.

"I think we should all go get ramen for dinner," the clone said brightly, conveniently ignoring the dour looks from the rest of the team, who certainly didn't have the same love for ramen that he did.

"You'd better have your own money. I'm not paying to feed a clone," Sakura said waspishly.

"Oh, I'm sure they won't mind if I put it on my tab," the clone replied.

"Ramen it is," Kakashi said with a resigned sigh.

"I don't know why we're letting a clone pick where we go," Sasuke muttered, and if it had been anybody else, his tone would have been called 'sulking'. But Uchiha do not sulk, of course.

The foursome made their way toward Ichiraku, still bickering lightly amongst themselves. At one point something occurred to Kakashi, and he spoke up. "Naruto… were you serious about _Sasuke_ being my birthday present?" His dismayed tone let them know exactly how he felt about that, and when Sasuke gave him a dark look he insincerely added, "No offense," with an eye-crinkling smile.

"Bringing Sasuke in from the field is only half of the present." The clone paused for dramatic effect. "The other half is that tonight, he's going to _drink_ with us."

This made Sakura's eyes widen as she started to giggle with distinctively evil glee, which she quickly tried to smother when Sasuke glared at her. She couldn't believe that Naruto had gotten him to agree to this. She and Naruto were the only ones who had ever seen Sasuke drunk—even Sasuke himself didn't know the truth, since he never seemed to remember anything the few times he had indulged. Which just made the whole situation even better.

Kakashi's brow furrowed. "I've gone drinking with Sasuke before."

"No…" Sakura drawled with a grin. "Sasuke has been there when _you_ were drinking before. But he never drank."

Kakashi tilted his head thoughtfully. When he turned to look at Sasuke, Sasuke rolled his eyes in irritation and said, "I don't know what the big deal is."

Both Sakura and the clone broke into devious giggles, leaving the other two men to stare at them, perplexed. Sasuke shrugged in response to Kakashi's questioning look, which just made Sakura giggle harder. This was almost better than the present she was going to give Kakashi.

 _Almost_.

* * *

Kakashi was completely dumbfounded.

Several hours had passed, during which the members of Team 7 filled their bellies at Ichiraku and then made their unhurried way to Naruto's private quarters at the Hokage Tower. The clone had vanished shortly before they'd arrived, the real Naruto greeting them at the door with a cheerful grin. Hinata had gone to the Hyuuga compound for the evening to let them celebrate alone, he'd told them, before ushering them into the sitting room where warm saké was already waiting. Sakura and Kakashi had taken over one couch, while Naruto and Sasuke commandeered the second couch that lay perpendicular to the first.

There had been multiple rounds between the four of them since then, but Sasuke had only had three of the small cups, the result of which was Kakashi's dumbfounded state as he observed the spectacle before him.

Uchiha Sasuke was a lightweight.

He'd seemed fine after his first drink, although a pink flush had risen to his normally pale cheeks. On his second, Kakashi had caught what he thought was an actual _smile_ , albeit a small one. The third drink had resulted in a very slight slur overtaking Sasuke's usually distinct speech, and Kakashi thought he'd caught him swaying once. And then, when he'd playfully shoved Naruto and Naruto had toppled off the couch, Sasuke had _laughed_. Loudly. Now he was pouring himself a fourth cup with a look of intense concentration on his face, smirking amusedly to himself when he accidentally spilled.

"This is unreal," Kakashi said quietly, so that Naruto and Sasuke wouldn't hear him.

"It's the only thing we've ever seen him be bad at," Sakura replied in a droll, yet equally quiet, tone. "I don't think it'll ever get old."

"How many times has… _this_ … happened?" Kakashi gestured toward Sasuke, who sloppily tossed back the entire cup with Naruto's loud encouragement.

"It's only been a few of times. He always says he can't remember," Sakura said as Kakashi shook his head in disbelief. "Although Naruto and I have discussed the theory that he really _does_ remember, and secretly enjoys not having a stick up his ass for a while."

"This is definitely not a present I would have expected," he said, raising his voice to include the others in the conversation.

"It's the best present ever!" Naruto crowed, grabbing Sasuke's shoulder and shaking him. Sasuke responded by sloppily putting his entire hand over Naruto's face and using it to push him away. Naruto giggled and hiccupped, having consumed far more saké than him.

"HEY," Sasuke said suddenly, swinging his attention to Sakura and Kakashi. A somewhat bleary smirk crept across his face, and his voice was blatantly suggestive. "Does she still call you sensei?"

"Pervert!" Sakura snapped.

But Kakashi leaned forward, and because he just couldn't help himself, he replied in a velvet voice, "Yes." Dropping a slow wink, he added, "And I call her Sasuke."

The dramatic, horrified expression that spread over Sasuke's usually stoic face as he let out a sound of disgust was more than Kakashi could take, and he threw back his head and laughed.

Maybe he did like birthdays, after all.

* * *

"So, you can't tell anybody about this, because if it gets back to Sasuke he'll never drink again. We gotta make sure he doesn't remember," Naruto whisper-slurred at Kakashi for the fifth time as he walked them toward the door.

Sasuke was mumbling and chuckling to himself as he trailed behind Sakura and Kakashi. During the course of the evening, he had become positive loquacious, including telling them that Orochimaru was actually cold-blooded and had made Kabuto snuggle with him at night to keep him warm, a story that Kakashi was 99% sure was a fabrication. All told, Sasuke had had about six of the small cups of saké, and he was completely smashed.

"I know, I know, I won't tell anybody," Kakashi said, fighting off a yawn. Sakura smiled and leaned against him, her arm looped through his.

Sasuke swayed past them and went to walk through the door, and Naruto caught his arm and yanked him back. "Whoa, you're not going anywhere. You're staying on the couch."

"Oh," Sasuke said with what was probably a giggle, except never in the history of time has an Uchiha giggled. Kakashi was sure of it.

"Say bye-bye, Sasuke," Naruto encouraged as he put Sasuke's arm around his shoulders to keep him from swaying.

"Bye-bye Sasuke!" Sasuke echoed with a snicker. Raising his hand, he leaned toward Naruto and tapped him on the forehead, whispering "boop". Naruto snickered back, leading him inside.

Kakashi and Sakura, having consumed much less saké than the other members of their team, were perfectly steady as they made their way out of the Hokage Tower and down to the street. "Well, that sure was something," Kakashi said, still somewhat stunned by the evening.

"I hope that doesn't overshadow my present," Sakura sighed.

He lit up. "Speaking of presents… it's after midnight."

Sakura was already shaking her head. "Nope. You still don't get your present yet. I'll give it to you after we wake up tomorrow."

Kakashi grumbled all the way home, much to Sakura's amusement.

* * *

The next morning, Sakura was in the kitchen early, much perkier than anyone who'd been drinking the night before had a right to be. She smiled as she surveyed her work; she'd made grilled fish, steamed vegetables, miso soup, and rice. She even had apple slices that looked like little bunnies in case he wanted something sweet, although that was unlikely.

Kakashi shuffled into the kitchen in loose black pants and his masked undershirt. Although she'd been a little hurt at first at his tendency to wear the mask even while at home, she understood that he just felt more comfortable that way. Sakura smiled brightly as she admired the view regardless—those undershirts were awfully tight, after all, and his pants were hanging kind of low. "Happy Birthday!"

Kakashi grumbled unintelligibly as he blinked. He was cute when he wasn't awake yet. She noticed his bleary eyes following the very short hemline of the robe she was wearing—the silky pink one that she knew he really liked—but he didn't really seem to be capable of actual thought yet.

Sakura turned him around and ushered him to the kitchen table, where he slumped into his usual chair, finally pulling his mask down. After taking all the food to the table, she joined him, and they both began to eat.

* * *

Kakashi was about halfway through his meal before he actually became coherent, belatedly thanking Sakura for the wonderful breakfast. She just beamed at him in response and actually _wiggled_ in her seat in excitement. His eyes narrowed as he realized what she was getting so worked up about. "The present."

"Mmhmm…" she with a grin, her voice higher than usual.

"Are you going to make me wait all day for it?"

"I really should. If I give it to you now, you're going to want to take it to dinner. Which reminds me—there are going to be some ground rules."

Kakashi's brow furrowed. What the hell kind of present was this? "Rules?"

"Rule number one is that you don't talk about the present." She glared at him fiercely. "Rule number two is that _you do not talk about the present._ "

He fought the urge to roll his eyes.

"Rule number three," she continued. "You are not allowed to use the present in public. That would cause people to ask questions about it. And then you would want to tell them about the present. And what are the first and second rules about the present?"

"You do not talk about the present," he answered in a monotone.

"Exactly." Sakura paused long enough to eat her last bite of rice, chewing thoughtfully. Swallowing, she smiled at him. "But I have made you wait a long time. And I really want to see you open it."

Kakashi tried to act cool. "If that's what you want."

"Oh, please. You know you're dying to open it." She smirked at him, looking very satisfied with herself. "Admit it—I've made you like birthdays."

"Ridiculous."

"It's killing you. You want that present _so bad_."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

They sat in silence for a long moment while Sakura looked at him with a lazily quirked brow. He was pretty sure she had picked that up from him.

Finally, he broke. "Letmeopenthepresent," he uttered in one quick exhale, his teeth clenched together.

Grinning, Sakura stood, gathering plates. "I'll clean up. No, don't help, it's your birthday," she said, swatting his hands away. "Take the scroll into the living room and I'll be right there."

It seemed like forever before Sakura joined him, sitting beside him on the couch and holding her hand out for the scroll. Kakashi watched her with a beady stare as she used her chakra to release the seal on the outside. He was a little nervous, which was ridiculous. As she unfurled the scroll before her, she focused her chakra again before placing her palm down in the designated spot. With a soft poof, she suddenly held a box wrapped gaily in blue paper in the palm of her hand. Grinning, she handed it to him.

The box was small, about five inches square and four inches deep. It was also surprisingly light. He shook it a little and could feel something sliding around. Quickly, he slid his finger under a fold of paper and pulled it open, and soon he had made short work of the wrapping. Sakura hopped slightly in her seat, chewing her lip, the corners of her mouth twitching.

"Wait!" Sakura yelped, leaning forward and tugging down his mask, which he'd replaced after eating. "I want to see your expression. Okay, go."

Smirking a bit, Kakashi opened the box. He peered at the objects inside—a narrow rectangular metallic device with a long cord that split to end in two earbuds. He picked it up and blinked at Sakura. "A digital recorder…?"

A strangled sound came out of her, like she had swallowed a squeal. She looked like she was going to explode with anticipation—however, there was also a pink flush to her cheeks, like she was embarrassed about something. Obviously attempting to restrain herself, she said in a somewhat calm voice, "You know what an audiobook is, right?"

"How old do you think I am?" he said to her, scowling playfully as she scrambled into his lap. Of course he knew what an audiobook was. He just didn't bother with them. There were no audiobooks of his favorite series, so why bother? Taking the recorder from him, Sakura reached up to stick one of the earbuds in his ear. "Of course I know what an audio—"

She pressed play.

Kakashi abruptly stopped speaking as Sakura's voice came through the tiny speaker in his ear, sounding breathy and smooth. It was the same voice she used when she was in the mood and wanted _him_ to be in the mood, too. "Icha Icha Tactics _, by Jiraiya. Chapter One. Junko straightened the silk covering her full breasts as she studied her reflection in the mirror. She felt a thrill of nervous excitement go through her, as it always did before a seduction mission._ "

Kakashi stared at her, so shocked that he couldn't focus on the well-known words of his beloved book. "You… made me an _Icha Icha_ audiobook…" he finally said in a stunned voice.

"It's a Haruno Sakura original." Her grin looked like it was going to split her face in half, although she was still blushing. Her eyes were drinking in his gaping expression with certain glee.

"You _made me_ an _Icha Icha_ audiobook," he repeated. His mind was dizzily racing, trying to process what was happening. It was like a dream he didn't even know he had was suddenly coming true. "Wait—did you…"

"I read _all_ the parts."

"Even chapter—"

" _Especially_ chapter eight." Her grin grew distinctly devious, and Kakashi thought that her blush deepened. "I get _really_ into it."

The voice in his ear had begun to describe exactly what Junko liked about seduction missions, but he didn't notice as he was still staring at Sakura. No one had ever done something like this for him. She had disregarded her own possible embarrassment—because, of course, Kakashi _definitely_ wanted to listen to it in public, and he _absolutely_ wanted to at least tell Genma about it—and personally made him a gift that he never would have expected, and yet was still somehow exactly what he wanted. And now she watched him, giggling slightly at his open mouth, and the glee in her eyes didn't hide the love there.

There was an almost painful squeezing sensation in Kakashi's chest, and he felt strangely winded as he exhaled sharply, the words just falling out. "You want to marry me."

Sakura's eyes widened, her mouth dropping open in unconscious mimicry of his previous expression. Struck dumb for only a moment, she recovered and slapped his chest. "You can't just…. _accuse me_ of wanting to _marry you_ after I give you _audio porn!_ " Kakashi didn't miss the excited widening of her eyes, or the slight tremble of her hand on his chest.

Kakashi had a moment of pure panic—holy _shit_ he hadn't meant to say that—but he recovered surprisingly quickly. Sure, he hadn't planned on proposing in quite this way, but he'd known since before he'd first kissed her that it was a possibility that he'd end up asking her to marry him. Always being prepared was a trait picked up from years of leading others, and besides, he never would have risked his friendship with Sakura if he didn't think it was serious.

Resting his forehead against hers, he lifted his hands to cup her face, one thumb sweeping over her lower lip. He grinned slightly, unable to help himself. "I love you. Marry me."

"That's still not a question," she sulked, though the light that was dancing in her eyes belied her tone.

The grin continued to lazily spread across his face as he leaned forward to nuzzle into her neck, nipping her with each word. "Will. You. Marry. Me…" Pausing, he raised his head to give her a saucy look as he drew out the last word. "…ee?" he finished in a vaguely questioning tone.

Having grown used to his teasing nature, and rather fond of it, she couldn't seem to muster up any more indignation at his untraditional way of proposing. Instead, she just stared at him as a smile slowly spread across her face. It was like watching the sunrise, gentle and warm and all-encompassing, and Kakashi had a moment to regret that he no longer had the Sharingan to freeze it in his mind forever. He found himself holding his breath as she tipped her forehead into his, and quietly whispered, "Yes."

Kakashi exhaled, relief singing through him. He smirked a little. "Are you sure? Because that didn't sound as enthusiastic as—"

His words were covered by her squeal as she tackled her body into his, knocking him sideways on the couch. He knew the grin he had was probably a stupid one, but it was completely involuntary, as was his sudden awareness that the voice in his ear was beginning the first of _Icha Icha Tactics_ ' love scenes. He couldn't help but react to the latter, his hands pressing Sakura close to him as her voice purred in his ear, and he couldn't help but notice that she didn't seem to be wearing anything under her short, silky robe. When Sakura pressed her mouth to his, he responded eagerly, pulling her fully on top of him as he lay back against the couch.

He had just enough time to hear, _"'I want you to make me yours tonight,' Junko said,"_ before the earbud was pulled out of his ear so that Sakura could pull his shirt over his head. He gathered the digital recorder and earbuds in one hand and went to move them toward the side table, but Sakura stopped him with a hand on his forearm. The mischievous smile that she gave him was devastatingly sexy. "Don't you want to listen to your present?" she asked with feigned innocence, and he felt his cock twitch in his pants. He almost asked her to marry him again.

Slowly placing one earbud back in—only one, because he wanted to hear her, too—he felt his breath quicken as _Icha Icha_ echoed in his head at the same time as Sakura kissed her way down his chest, the silky ends of her hair brushing over his skin. Her hungry hands were already sliding downward to undo his pants.

"' _You can lie to yourself all you want, but I know this is more than just a mission for you,' Haruto said as he pushed a finger inside her. Junko writhed beneath him, hot bolts of desire running through her body. 'Oh Haruto,' she moaned."_

The sound of Sakura moaning in his ear combined with the feel of her mouth closing over his cock made Kakashi groan low in his throat. He barely registered her pulling his pants lower on his legs, removing her mouth from him just long enough to prop herself up and tug his pants off completely. Straddling his legs, she pushed his hands away when he reached for her, instead taking his fevered length in her hand again. Fuck, he loved when she got demanding. When she lowered her head and took him into the hot cavern of her mouth again, he bit out a curse.

" _Junko, wet and willing, cried out as Haruto curled his fingers inside her. She begged him not to stop, but he drew his hand away from her, his face smug with the knowledge of how much she wanted him. 'I need you…' she whimpered, and he smiled as pushed her legs wider. 'Where do you need me, Junko?' 'Inside of me,' she pleaded, and then she gave a wanton cry as he thrust into her."_

Looking down at her, he saw that she had pulled up the ends of her robe enough to touch herself while she pleasured him. He moaned her name in a strangled voice, his cock so hard that it was almost painful. If she kept doing that, he wasn't going to last very long, and Kakashi wasn't going to be satisfied unless he could watch her come while he was inside her. Tangling his fingers into her hair, he tugged lightly, his breath catching in his throat as she gave one final suck before releasing him with an impish grin.

Smirking, he pulled her up to him, reaching up to stick the free earbud in her ear. The blush on her face as she heard herself moaning just made him want her more, and he pulled her close to kiss her as he slid one hand down to her hip, holding her still as he ground himself up against her. She so wet for him, a fact that made it hard to resist flipping her over and having his way with her.

"' _You're mine now,' Haruto growled as he plundered her most sacred treasure, and Junko wrapped her legs around him, raising her hips to meet his bruising thrusts. Leaving long red lines on his back as she gripped him in ecstasy, she pleaded with him to fuck her faster, harder, her cries music in his ears."_

Sakura moaned his name as she caught him at just the right angle and slowly pressed herself onto him, and he gasped at the feeling. She was slick and tight around him, her hips swiveling in a slow grind. His hand on her back kept her close as he pulled her robe open with his other hand, leaning forward catch her nipple in his mouth, teasing her with his tongue as she slowly rolled her hips against him. When his hand moved between her thighs, his thumb brushing over her clit, he felt her pulse around him. He groaned and thrust up into her, making her cry out.

"' _Come for me now, Junko' he commanded darkly into her ear as he fucked her, and that was enough to send her over the edge, arching beneath him as her orgasm overtook her. 'I'm coming…!' she screamed wildly."_

They were both panting now, their bodies shimmering with a thin sheen of sweat as they moved with each other. The slow circles Kakashi was pressing with his thumb continued as Sakura rose and fell above him. His eyes drank in the almost desperate look of pleasure on her face, the bounce of her breasts, the sight of him penetrating her. Her recorded voice in his ear pushed him closer to his release, but Sakura was trembling now, her movements growing ragged as her nails dug into his chest. "Kakashi, please…" she whimpered.

Letting out a lust-filled growl, he curled his arm around her waist, steadying himself with his other hand behind him, and then in one quick move flipped them over. For one brief moment, he thought he might tumble them both onto the floor, but he managed to keep them both from falling. This dislodged both their earbuds, however, but that didn't matter anymore as he pushed her legs up and over his shoulders and thrust into her again. Her pleas turned into wordless cries as he drove into her, feeling his own pleasure building to the limit as he set an unrelenting pace. When she came, her voice a broken scream as she trembled around him, he went with her, his rhythm faltering as he thrust into her, his whole body pulsing with his release.

Panting, he rested some of his weight against her, her knees pressed back into her chest. He was deeply appreciative of the flexibility of a kunoichi, and not for the first time. He brushed his lips against her forehead and cheek, murmuring about how beautiful she was, and how much he loved her, and even asking her to marry him again, which made her giggle. Lowering her legs to wrap them around his waist, she whispered back that she loved how she could still feel him throbbing, which made him twitch inside her. That just made her giggle again. Eventually they disentangled from each other, rearranging themselves so that Kakashi was lying on his back again, and Sakura was pressed to his side.

"So, do you like birthdays now?" she teased in a voice that was still a little breathless.

"Absolutely," he said with a lazy smile, sliding one hand over her neck to toy with the sweat-damped strands at the nape of her neck.

Shifting herself into a more comfortable position, Sakura frowned slightly as she realized how close she was to falling off the edge. "We need a bigger couch. We almost fell off before."

"We need a bigger house," Kakashi amended.

Sakura gave him a surprised look. "Why? I think this house is big enough for us."

Kakashi could feel heat rising in his face. Fuck. He hadn't meant to bring this up now. He was _really_ bad with timing. "What if we want more bedrooms? For guests… and… things…" he hedged.

She blinked at him for a moment, uncomprehending, until she finally realized what he was stuttering about and a slow grin spread over her face. "You. Want. _Babies_."

Kakashi felt the bottom drop out of his stomach when he noticed that she'd used the plural. "I just thought we could talk about—"

"You want babies!" She was full-on laughing now.

Getting the distinct feeling that she was laughing _at_ him, Kakashi scowled slightly. "I hate you."

"You _love_ me," came her automatic answer as she leaned down to kiss him.

"I suppose _one child_ would be nice," he granted, as if the whole thing had been her idea in the first place. "…Maybe two."

Pulling back, she snickered. "Our children are going to be so weird."

He had to agree.

* * *

They kept their engagement a secret that night at Kakashi's birthday dinner, letting their friends be distracted by the novelty of finally being able to tease him about his birthday. The day after, Kakashi and Sakura began to quietly tell their friends, making Ino promise to wait until Sakura's parents knew before spreading it around the whole village. The Haruno family took the news in stride; any misgivings they had about Kakashi's age or former position as Sakura's sensei were swallowed by their star-struck awe at having the Rokudaime marry into their family.

They got married in the spring, with Naruto officiating a short ceremony under a canopy of cherry blossoms. (The one time that Kakashi had tried to mention that cherry blossoms were a bit cliché, Sakura had fixed him with a glare and told him, "Weddings are supposed to be cheesy" _._ Being a wise man, he shut his mouth.) Although they tried to keep it small, they had touched a lot of lives in Konoha, and ninja have a way of inviting themselves.

With the cherry blossom petals heavy in the air, and their eyes steady and their hearts full, Kakashi and Sakura promised themselves to each other. When they shared their first kiss as a married couple, Sakura covered Kakashi's briefly bared face with the sleeve of their kimono, and there was a disappointed groan from the crowd, but the cheer that soon rose in its wake echoed throughout Konoha. Naruto cried noisily, and Sakura looked up at her husband with that smile she saved only for him. She knew that even if they couldn't predict the things that would happen in the future, they would be facing them together… and that was more than enough.

* * *

 _Four Years Later_

Kakashi sighed contentedly as he lay himself back in the grass, his hands linking behind his head. Sakura sat leaning against a tree beside him, her off-key humming supported by the sound of the wind in the leaves. The bundle she held to her chest squirmed with fitful noises before quieting down again, and she smiled as she ran her hand over the small head with its wisps of white hair. The yard that they were currently enjoying was one of their favorite things about the house they'd bought shortly after their marriage.

"Papaaa!" As their daughter's shrill voice broke the silence, Kakashi lifted his head somewhat. "Come play with me!" The little girl stood with her hands on her hips, light pink hair messily framing her defiant grey eyes.

"Why should I do that?" Kakashi answered lazily, while his wife rolled her eyes. His penchant for teasing her had expanded to include teasing his offspring as well.

"You love me!" she shouted, stabbing the air with one little finger, echoing the same words her mother had used toward her father so very long ago, the same words they teased each other with still.

Blinking, Kakashi looked at Sakura, and she looked back at him. In unison, they both said, "This is _your fault_."

Sakura was the first to crack, breaking into giggles. Kakashi snorted beneath his mask. When he sat up to lean toward her, she raised a hand to pull down his mask so she could kiss him, and their daughter made a disgusted sound of protest.

And everything was exactly as it should be.

* * *

A/N: Sooo cheesy, sorry not sorry. XD All blame for the boop scene goes to my husband, who made me promise that drunk Sasuke would do the "Uchiha boop" to somebody. (He almost booped EVERYBODY—believe it or not, drunk Sasuke was a lot more ridiculous before I made myself tone him down.)

Thank you _so much_ to everyone that reviewed, favorited, and followed me through this little journey back into fanfiction writing. I'm not sure how successful this story was, but I had fun writing it. I've got some other stories in the works, so I hope you'll all keep an eye out! Thanks for reading!

Second edit note: You know, I never noticed this before, but I have something really important to say: If you let a guy come inside you, definitely don't sit on your nice couch afterward. ^^; Also, this chapter contained a reference to the quote, "The first rule of fight club is you do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is you do not talk about Fight Club," which is obviously from Fight Club.


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